


Total Drama: Battle of the Generations

by StayOuttaMyShed



Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: Competition, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drama & Romance, Fanfiction, Gen, Humor, Post-Total Drama (Cartoon) Season/Series 07, Singing, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 119,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22698976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StayOuttaMyShed/pseuds/StayOuttaMyShed
Summary: Sometime after Total Drama Pahkitew Island, Chris has the Jumbo Jet rebuilt. Now he's ready for a new season, taking the contestants once again around the world! This time he brings back competitors from all three generations of casts. Can Scott earn the trust of his team? Will Shawn and Jasmine dominate the competition? And the Drama Brothers are back together? It's an all out battle for supremacy!
Relationships: Cody Anderson/Sammy "Samey", Harold McGrady V/Leshawna (Total Drama), Jasmine/Shawn (Total Drama)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21





	1. A Cool Reunion part 1

There was a sharp crackle of thunder as a bolt of lightning struck the earth below. High atop a long forgotten abandoned hill in the middle of Ontario stood a castle. Within its walls were two figures, one a hulking man shrouded by a cloak, standing next to a lever. The other figure was scrawnier, also wearing a cloak and disguised by the shadows. Cackling to himself, he approached a massive slab in the middle of the room. The room was lined with various torches to illuminate the area. Throughout were many pieces of equipment and batteries, most attached to the slab the figure looked over proudly. What was on the slab could not be seen, as it was covered by a very large sheet, though it was certainly massive. The figure continued to laugh sadistically as the thunderstorm intensified.

"The time has come for you to finally live once again," he told whatever was on the slab, oozing with excitement as he grinned wickedly. Turning to his companion near the lever, he pointed dramatically to the heavens, where a hole was in the ceiling large enough to accommodate the slab. "Now!"

Nodding silently, the larger figure slowly flipped the switch. The machines throughout the room beeped and booped to life, mixing with the sounds of the storm to fill the room with noise. As the lights from the devices flickered, the slab in the center of the room slowly began to rise, supported by heavy chains at each corner. As the slab continued to rise, so too did the laughter of the figure as he watched the ascension with the utmost glee. When the slab had reached the top of its climb, it lied prone to the mercy of the storm raging above. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck whatever was beneath the cover, causing the machines in the room to surge with power. Another bolt struck, and the devices would intensify even more. After the third bolt had struck, the figure held his hands up joyously, filled with euphoric glee.

"It's alive! It's alive! It's aliiiiiiiiiive!"

"Chris, this is a lot of got dang fanfare over a stupid airplane," the other figure in the room suddenly cut off, removing the hood of the cloak to reveal himself as a large, bald, muscular black man sporting some sweet facial hair. Indeed, it was the one and only Chef Hatchet. Annoyed at his counterpart's antics, he flipped the lever once again, and the slab began to descend.

"Uh, it's not an airplane, Chef," the first figure corrected, their hood finally falling off to reveal a handsome Caucasian man with stubble and windblown hair. Reality TV's most infamous host, Chris McLean, in the flesh. The slab had finished his descent and Chris eagerly took hold of the cover, yanking it off of whatever was beneath. "It's a jet!"

Indeed with the cover off, the massive figure underneath was revealed to be a jet. But not just any everyday ordinary jet. No, this was THE Total Dram Jumbo Jet. Last seen in Total Drama World Tour before being blown up to kingdom come by Sierra, it was now perfectly rebuilt and in working condition. At least, as good a condition as it was for World Tour. That being, not very good condition at all and with questionable safety. But by damn, it was rebuilt all the same.

"Whatever, man." Chef threw his cloak over his shoulder, walking over to join the host in looking over the colossal airliner. "Did the lightning even do anything? I mean really, why couldn't we just rebuild the darn thing and leave it at that?" He threw his hands up, rolling his eyes. "But nooo, we gotta drag it to a gosh darn castle and get all Dracula on the stupid thing."

"First of all, that's the wrong story," Chris corrected, still choosing to leave the cloak on for dramatic effect. "And yes, it was very much necessary. A return this great deserves a grand entrance." Suddenly, he turned away from Chef and towards the camera, flashing a bright grin as it panned out to get him, Chef, and the jet all in shot. "It's time for another World Tour, baby! All Stars part two! And it's coming at you right now!"

The host posed dramatically, motioning at the Jumbo Jet as a crack of lightning emphasized the segway. Chef, meanwhile, simply groaned, rolling his eyes as the show finally went to intro.

***** Opening Theme *****

***** Outside an airport somewhere in Toronto *****

Now cloak free and in his classic normal attire he had worn for all previous seasons he had hosted the show, Chris walked into frame. While he tried to always have his cheeky grin, he had a special sort of smile that only came with the excitement of a fresh new season. That meant new drama. New grueling challenges. New pain and suffering. All some of the host's favorite things.

He stood outside the entrance of an airport, standing in the middle of a road meant for shuttles to load and unload passengers. Eager to get into it, Chris wasted no time. "Long time no see! No, your eyes don't deceive you. It's really me, your favorite loving reality show host with the most! And this is the start of the newest season of Total Drama!"

Taking a quick pause to let it sink in, Chris motioned off to the side where a shuttle bus strolled in from off screen, coming to a halt next to the host. "We're bringing back the World Tour! We're bringing back All Stars! But this time it's gonna be bigger. It's gonna be better. It's gonna be totally freaking awesome!" Smiling as the doors to the shuttle squeaked open, Chris approached the door. "So how about we start out by seeing who's joining us this season. First up, from Total Drama Island, welcome back Izzy and DJ!"

First off of the bus was a flash of green and orange. The red headed girl landed into a cartwheel, spinning up to the host as she exuded her limitless energy. Making a simple, normal entrance was something out of the question for her as she grinned wildly and waved for the camera. On the other end, behind her came a large, muscular, yet kind looking man, stepping out of the bus carefully. He had known better as to try and depart the bus before her, knowing fully well that it likely would have led to him being sent tumbling down the shuttle's stairs due to her pushing her way out from behind. The boy of Jamaican-Canadian decent gave the camera a warm smile, but was quickly thrown off guard as the girl emerged from behind and jumped on to his back spontaneously.

"Woohoo!" She cheered loudly, not considering how her scream was right next to the boy's ear. "We're finally back! Can you believe it, Deej?"

DJ grimaced at the loud noise that was suddenly assaulting his eardrum, but he was too kind to chastise her, knowing her well enough to realize she wasn't intentionally meaning harm. This was just how she was. "Yeah, it's pretty cool, Izzy. Feels like ages since last time."

As Izzy jumped off of her fellow cast mate's back, Chris wouldn't miss a beat as they took their place next to him. The introductions continued on. "The ever sassy Leshawna, and always long winded Harold!"

"I'll have you know that many people find my trivia both interesting and mentally stimulating," an offended nasally voice answered from within the bus before the source stepped out. A scrawny red headed nerd adjusted his glasses, leveling a glare the host's way. "You clearly just don't know how to appreciate expanding your knowledge, gosh!"

"You tell em, honey!" The speaker with the much louder voice was out next, a curvy sister that radiated sass and confidence. She patted the nerd on the back while he grinned and his cheeks blushed red. "Only things McLean knows about in the noggin of his is beauty products and how to torture people a third his age."

Chris' eye twitched a bit, but he would not let his trademark grin falter so soon on the first day of a new season. "Yes, you all should be quite familiar with the later. Care to volunteer as an early reminder, Leshawna?"

The soul sister rolled her eyes, paying him no mind as she turned back to the nerd. "Don't let Chris' salty behind get ya down, Harold. You keep being you."

Harold nodded in understanding, still blushing due to not having seen Leshawna in so long. "But of course, m'lady. He's just jealous of my wicked skills. What else is new?"

Ignoring Chris, Harold and Leshawna gladly went to chatting up DJ and Izzy. Annoyed, but not about to let the young adults sense it, Chris kept the ball rolling. "Up next, we have a former finalist, farm girl Beth! As well as lover boy turned wackjob, Trent."

First of the pair off of the bus was the male of the duo. Normally with a cool, calm, and collected demeanor about him, the musician exited the bus with guitar case in hand, his expression showing disgruntlement. "Gee, thanks for the killer introduction, Chris. I totally appreciate the constant reminders of something that only happened in one season."

"Says someone who was only in two seasons," Chris shot back without missing a beat, still grinning while Trent's expression soured further. His attitude was calmed, though, when he was approached by a short bespectacled girl with an odd sense of fashion.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with having only been on two seasons," she pointed out, patting Trent on the back reassuringly. She smiled, motioning at their luggage. "Plus now we're about to be on a third, right?"

Indeed, Trent's attitude was helped immensely by her kind comforting. He chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Fair point, Beth, fair point."

The two approached the growing crowd of familiar contestants, Trent immediately offering a high five to Harold after spotting his former band-mate. Beth exchanged a hug with Izzy, though quickly found out it was more than she bargained for when the red head picked her up and squeezed tight.

"And last but certainly not least from this lot," Chris announced. "Fan favorite geek Cody, and everyone's favorite uptight CIT, Courtney!"

Letting out a small cheer as he jumped out of the shuttle, another scrawny boy, though this one with brown hair instead of red and a gap in his teeth instead of glasses, raised his fists to the air. "It's good to be back! I was starting to think it was never going to happen again."

He rushed off immediately to join Harold and Trent, both giving a greeting of "Codemeister!" as he approached and shooting the nerdling finger pistols. As Cody started to greet old friends, the aforementioned final member of the group exited the bus. An attractive Hispanic girl dressed professionally and glowing with confidence, she looked on with a mix of emotions as she surveyed the cast of former players she hadn't seen in quite some time.

"Hey, guys," Courtney greeted, giving a small wave as her fellow veterans looked her way. "Long time no see."

Some of the fellow TDI alum weren't too sure how to react to Courtney's arrival. Harold rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, recalling their storied history of not exactly liking one another. Beth similarly looked away and tapped her fingers together, remembering the times they had butted heads during her second season. DJ was the one to eventually break the silence, offering a kind grin and wave back.

"Yeah, it's been way too long," DJ greeted, looking around at everyone. "It cool seeing y'all again. We should really start doing reunions or something every once and a while."

The mood lighthearted and fun, Courtney smiled and entered the chit chat as the eight former TDI competitors began conversing together. They talked about what they had been up to, and reminisced on the old times from past seasons. It was a feeling of camaraderie and friendliness that, quite frankly, made Chris feel sick to his stomach.

" _No worries,"_ he thought to himself. " _They'll be at each other's throats before they know it."_

Clearing his throat loudly, the host got the attention of the eight young adults, some looking annoyed at the interruption to the conversation. Clapping his hands together, he looked them over with the grin they had long since grown to hate. "Now then, let me be the first to welcome you guys back to Total Drama. For some of you, it's been quite sometime since we last saw you in action."

"Yeah, uh, not to butt in or anything," Cody said suddenly, butting in anyway. "But isn't eight people kinda small for a full season?"

Normally Chris would have enjoyed this opportunity to lambaste the geek for interrupting him so rudely, but they were on a schedule that he didn't want running late. "Well, Cody, the response to that is quite simple. This is only the first group of victims being brought back into the fray this season." He looked off to the side, beaming as he saw a second shuttle approaching. The first had departed after all contestants had exited, and this one now took its place. "And here comes the next group now!"

Once the bus had halted to a stop, the fumes from the exhaust caused the eight contestants already present to cough and hack. The door creaked open once more. The host rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Now this second group of players, for the most part, might not be quite as high profile as you lot," Chris introduced, getting looks of intrigue and confusion. "But that just means they'll be all the more thirsty to prove themselves! Up first, the suffocating Jersey girl Anne Maria, and the pants wetting private, Brick!"

As soon as the introduction was done, the first of the bus' inhabitants practically jogged down the steps, standing up straight and putting his right arm up in a salute. With a buzz cut, army boots, and dog tags, he was unmistakably an army cadet of some sort. Though at this point it was possible he had advanced farther than simply cadet. "Sir, Brick McArthur returning for durty, Sir!"

His tone was loud and stern, and he stood up straight with the poise that only a military buff could accomplish. His composure was thrown off, however, when he was suddenly barraged with a cloud of hairspray that sent him into a coughing fit. While Brick clutched his throat for air, the next contestant casually scooted him aside, continuing to apply hairspray to her hard-as-brick mane.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all know who you is," she said dismissively, taking a break from her hairspray application to strike a pose to show off her features. "And we all know who I am!"

Indeed, she was a hard sight to miss. While she was arguably the curviest of the lot, perhaps only challenged by Leshawna, her skin was an unusual Oompa Loompa orange, a result of fake tan overuse. And her face was smothered in enough makeup to make a professional clown jealous. In the sea of Canadians, her thick New Jersey accent stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Finally, someone not so eager to be all nostalgic and goodie two shoe," Chris exclaimed, beaming with satisfaction at Anne Maria's display. "Great to have you back, Anne Maria."

"You know it," she replied, a cocky air to her as she took a place on the other side of the host. Brick had since recovered enough to be down to slight coughs and followed, taking care to stand on the side of Anne Maria where the hairspray wouldn't flow.

"Next," Chris continued, "We have the cool and silent B, and the uncool and chatty Staci!"

Chatty quickly proved to be an accurate descriptor. As if on cue, with the introduction done Staci had jumped straight into a tirade to the silent comrade behind her.

"Did you know that my great great grandfather Eustace was the one to invent buses?" She asked her counterpart, though she didn't pause for an answer, not that he would have given one. She was a rather large girl, wearing a bow on her head and speaking in a sort of German accent. "Yah, before him if a bunch of people needed to go someplace at once they'd all have to cram into a car like clowns."

The boy exiting the bus behind her listened to the tall tale, mostly because he was more of a listener than a talker. Like Staci he was rather large and chubby, though he did have an air of coolness to him. With dark skin and a large coat, he offered the camera a simple finger pistol before going back to hearing the end of Staci's story.

"And he probably got the idea from my great great great great aunt Ingrid, who invented the bench." Staci nodded in a matter of fact way that made it seem like she genuinely believed the obvious baloney that she was spewing. B simply looked at her, slightly annoyed and slightly amused. "Yah, before her-

"As riveting as this is, Staci, we do have other contestants to get through," Chris barked impatiently, signaling for her and B to join the rest of the Revenge of the Island alumni. After they had done so, the host cleared his throat. "As I was saying, next we have fan favorite weirdo Dawn, and one of our resident mutants, Dakota!"

No one really reacted to hearing Dawn's name, but hearing the host mention Dakota raised some serious eyebrows from the TDI vets that had watched the season. The last Dakota had been seen, she had been mutated into a hulking Goliath with super strength. Where would the fairness be for anyone not on a team with her?

As they pondered this, the first of the two off of the bus was instead a short, pale blonde wearing a green sweater. When exciting the bus she had her hands up in a meditative pose and her eyes closed, though she eventually opened them and waved politely to the others. "Hello, friends. I hope you're all doing well. The tea leaved predicted that today would be a rare day of calmness before great hardship, so it would be best to savor it."

Chris chuckled, the others exchanging looks of fear or nervousness as the reminder of the show's intensity dawned on them. "For once I can get behind some of the craziness she spouts. First time for everything, I suppose."

Paying the host no mind whatsoever, Dawn stepped aside for the next competitor to exit. To their surprise, what came out was not a mutated behemoth, but, well, Dakota. Or at the least, it more closely resembled Dakota before she had suffered her body changing. She no longer sported a tail, spiked teeth, or spikes protruding from her limbs. She wasn't without reminders of what once happened to her, though. Her hair was still a toxic waste colored green, spiked but shorter than it had been on Dakotazoid. Her skin had a bit of orange hue still, but it looked more normal than what Anne Maria's tan had going on. Perhaps most curiously was her change in attire. No longer did she have her former pink pants and shirt. Instead she wore a sort of jumpsuit, though it was still pink and made stylish in only the sort of way someone like Dakota could make work.

There was stunned confusion among everyone but Chris and Dawn. Anne Maria eventually broke the silence. "Yo, what happened to her? She actually looks normal... ish."

"Heh, yeah, I figured you guys might be confused," Dakota answered innocently, looking around awkwardly at all eyes being on her. At the start of Revenge of the Island this would have been exactly what she desired, but that was quite some time ago. "So to make a long story short, I was actually kind of enjoying the mutant life. But it turns out it's really really really hard to find clothes that fit someone that size. And it makes going on flights sort of impossible." She looked down at her hand, counting off on her fingers. "And riding in limos. And going through doors. And... well, you get the point."

"Fair enough," Cody replied, still a bit disappointed since he had watched Revenge of the Island and had momentarily been excited at seeing Dakotazoid in person. "But that doesn't explain how you changed back to normal."

"I sense a dark red aura dormant deep within," Dawn suddenly added, leaning in and looking at the former Fame Monger in concern.

Dakota chuckled awkwardly, taking a step away. "Yeah, I wouldn't exactly say completely normal. Daddy got together with some of his scientists friends and they worked on helping me get back to how I was. I knew Sam really liked my mutant form, but he was still supper supportive about me changing back. That's why he's the best!" She sighed dreamily, staring off into space before snapping back to realization. "Oh yeah, but anyway, those scientists were able to get me back to normal for the most part, but I still have the hair and my skin is still kinda orange."

A few of the others gave a side glance Anne Maria's way, all thinking something along the lines of " _You're not the only orange one._ "

"And uh... well even they MOSTLY got rid of Dakotazoid... I still sorta... kinda go back to it sometimes." She noticed everyone giving her concerned looks of panic, and she waved her hands dismissively. "But it only happens when I get too angry! And I change right back afterwards. That's why they made me this outfit, it doesn't rip in the off chance I accidentally become Dakotazoid."

"Wicked!" Harold's huge grin and twinkle in his eye showed just how excited he was. "So you're just like The Incred-"

Suddenly, the nerd's mouth was covered by Chris' hand, the host staring daggers down at the dork. "Finish that sentence and you're the one that has to pay copyright infringement fees."

Not in any sort of financial security to do so, Harold shut up as he was told. Since Dakota's situation seemed to have been thoroughly explained, her and Dawn joined the other season four alumni, allowing Chris to finally continue.

"As I was saying," he said. "Rounding out this group, some definite familiar faces. Former finalist and turbo jock Lightning, and our scheming dirt bag turned lovable oaf, Scott!"

At hearing the later name, Courtney's eyes went wide and she buried her head into her hands. "Oh lord."

Those that had watched Total Drama All Stars, the poor souls, turned to face Courtney after her reaction. Some looked on in sympathy, others in amusement. She heaved a sigh, raising her head just in time to see the farm boy exit the bus. Wearing his same usual white wife beater and blue jeans, he had a bored sneer when exiting the bus. That changed when he took notice that Courtney was among the crowd. Flustered, he began stammering to find something to say. It was futile, as before he could get out anything resembling words, he was pushed aside by the final shuttle occupant.

"Sha-score," he exclaimed, the origins of why he adds Sha to the start of words remaining a mystery to this day. He was of similar build to DJ. Tall, muscular, clearly athletic, and with dark skin. The difference was that while DJ radiated an air of kindness and positivity, Lightning expelled cockiness and competitiveness. Either unaware that he had shoved Scott aside or just not caring, he flexed his arms and grinned for the camera. "The Lightning is back for round three! Y'all may as well get back on the bus and leave now."

Lightning's comment probably would have come across as cooler had the bus not already departed as soon as he had exited. Unfazed, he simply went and joined the remaining season four alumni next to Chris. Scott followed behind, exchanging an awkward look at Courtney as he passed by. Chris took notice of the exchange and grinned devilishly.

Soon enough, a third and final bus appeared before the contestants. Once again the fumes seemed to nearly suffocate all there, with the exception of Anne Maria who was unsurprisingly building up an immunity to such fumes. The door popped open and for the third time Chris began his introductions.

"And finally, we have our third group of contestants. You can probably already guess what kind of group it'll be if you've been paying attention." Chris chuckled, motioning to the shuttle exit. "Let's get to it. Up first, we have the southern pageant queen Sugar, and the love struck farmer Rodney!"

First off of the third bus was an absolute mountain of a man. Struggling to even squeeze his hulking tree trunk-like arms through the door, he nearly stumbled once he finally worked his way outside. Between the freckles, gap in his teeth, and worn overalls, the farmer moniker shouldn't have come as a surprise. Getting his bearings, Rodney had intended to greet his fellow cast members, but something made him freeze.

There were a bunch of smoking hot babes here that he'd never met. Sure, as someone that tried out for the show in the first place he had watched seasons of Total Drama before, but seeing them in person was something else. Should he look at Leshawna? Perhaps Anne Maria? What about Courtney? It was too much beauty for his small mind to comprehend.

"Uh... umm... p-puppies and... daffodils and chocolate-" Rodney began to stammer, probably trying to envision what he wanted to say but unable to figure out how to speak properly. Since his gibberish made Staci and Izzy sound sane by comparison, he was thankfully cut off by the loud cheer of the next Pahkitew Island alumni.

"Yeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaw," an even thicker country accent than his called, jumping out of the bus with a toothy grin. Speaking of which, like Rodney she had a gap in her teeth, though while she sounded to be just as country as him, her oddly small pink top was more suited for the beach than a farm. Also like her fellow farmer she was large, though not with muscle like her counterpart.

"It's about gosh dern time we had another season, what took ya so long?" she barked at Chris in annoyance, fists on her hips. She didn't wait for an answer, as once she noticed Rodney next to her she scooted him along. "Well don't just stand there, Rodney, you already had yer screen time."

Chuckling at the newcomer's antics, Chris motioned for Rodney to stand behind him to start the third group of players. "Glad to see the enthusiasm, Sugar. But I have some more victims to introduce, so if you'd be so kind as to join us." Seeing the pageant queen fold her arms and narrowing her eyes in rebellion, he had to keep it going. "Not to worry, you'll have plenty of screen time to take in soon enough."

With a huff, but knowing there was nothing to be gained from holding up the show, Sugar slumped over to where Rodney stood, arms still folded. "Fine."

Satisfied, Chris motioned everyone back to watching the bus. "Moving on, here's two contestants that know each other very well. The popular, talented, and successful cheerleader Amy... and also her sister Samey, I guess."

"It's Sammy," a voice corrected, part annoyed and part hurt. Out stepped a petite blonde in, what else, a cheer leading outfit. She was frowning from Chris' remark, but her mood wasn't going to get any better when she was promptly shoved out of the way by someone who looked almost exactly like her, save for a mole Sammy did not have. And unlike her twin's more kind and timid demeanor, this one gave off the air of someone who cared for no one other than herself.

"No, he got it right the first time," she spat dismissively, giving her sister a sinister smirk. "Unless you would have preferred Sparemy."

"You can't talk to her like that!" A sudden third voice boomed from behind the meaner twin, taking Amy by surprise. Chris too, since this messed with the two at a time mojo he had tried to establish. But sure enough, out now was yet another large contestant. Though unlike Rodney and Sugar she was fairly lean, the size came from her immense height that caused her to tower over the rest. Her attire made it seem like she was ready for a safari, and she spoke with the lone Australian accent of the group.

"Uh, Jasmine, I didn't introduce you and Shawn yet," Chris pointed out, irritated at the flow being disrupted.

"Wait, did he just give me my cue?" Another new voice asked, stepping out of the shuttle suddenly. He was a scruffy looking boy, also looking dressed like he was about to spend the night in the woods. Once exiting the bus, he darted his head from side to side. Those that knew him figured he was likely scanning the surrounding area for zombies. "I thought he had some sort of pairs thing going on."

Not amused, Chris's happy expression finally faltered to narrowed eyes and a frown. "I DID, but I guess that's gone out the window now." Sighing, he gave a lackluster motion towards the new arrivals. "The Zombie Nut Shawn, and the Amazon Survivalist Jasmine, everyone."

"I'm from Australia, ya wombat," the survivalist snarked back, knowing fully well what the host meant but feeling the need to give him sass anyway. Turning back to Amy, she jabbed a finger at the mean twin. "And as I was saying, if you think you're going to get away with torturing your sister for another season, you've got another thing coming."

"Oh yeah?" Amy challenged, stepping forward defiantly. "And what are you going to do about it?"

Not expecting her to actually do anything, Amy's eyes went wide when Jasmine stood up to her, glaring down at the mean twin and showing off just how drastically she towered over her. Shawn scooted up to the scene, looking on in half concern and half entertainment.

"You sure you want to challenge her like that?" he asked, exchanging a smile with Sammy. "Because believe me, she'll take you up on it."

While Amy thought quite highly of herself, even she wasn't dumb enough to fool herself into thinking she stood any sort of chance against Jasmine. Feeling a rare sense of defeat, she mumbled something under her breath while storming off to join the other Pahkitew Island veterans. After giving her tall friend an appreciative smile, Sammy followed with Jasmine and Shawn in tow.

"And finally," Chris continued, returning to his former happy demeanor now that the situation had blown over. "Last and... well, arguably least. The human soundboard Beardo, and the friend zoned romantic, Dave."

The first of the final two contestants exited the bus, each step he took giving a booming sound of the earth shaking whenever a foot made contact. Which was strange because he was a short, scrawny little guy, dressed neat and looking timid. Once he was out of the bus a new sound effect echoed, this time of an angelic chorus giving his entrance a dramatic flare. Though he seemed to be fed up as he turned around with a glare.

"Can you not?"

It was revealed that he was addressing the final contestant to leave the bus. In contrast to him, this boy was on the larger size, with darker skin and one hell of an impressive beard. But even the beard paled in comparison to the guy's absolutely massive afro, easily giving him the biggest hairdo of the cast. Also revealed was the fact that these sounds were, as Chris had mentioned, coming from him. He decided to give his own descent down the stairs the sound of "Also sprach Zarathustra," the tune made famous in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Each step he took was accompanied by one of the grand brass tones from the piece, with the loudest drawn out note playing when he touched down with his arms spread out for added effect.

"Seriously, cut it out," Dave continued, forcing Beardo to end his tune short with a record scratch sound effect to emphasize the point. "I'd imagine you don't want to be eliminated first again, so cool it with the sound effects."

While dejected at his talent being received so negatively, Beardo couldn't deny that there was a point to be made over him not wanting to be another early boot again. Using the sound of a zipper closing, he motioned his hand across his mouth and flashed the germaphobe a thumbs up. Rolling his eyes, Dave just shrugged at the gesture and joined the others with Beardo behind him. The final bus drove off and finally the crew was assembled.

A huge satisfied grin on his face, Chris stretched out his arms and looked around at the cast of young adults. "And with that, we have our full cast for the season!"

The 24 contestants looked around at the competition, sizing each other up. With the exception of Courtney with Lightning and Scott, those from different generations had yet to compete against or even meet the others. All they had to go off of was what they had seen from watching their seasons on TV. And maybe a short cameo appearance or two in the cases of DJ and Izzy.

"This is an, uh... interesting cast," Dave observed, looking from Beardo, to Staci, to Izzy.

"Thank you, Dave," Chris said appreciatively, despite Dave's tone not being a complimentary one. Gesturing with his hand for the group to follow them, he began leading them through the airport.

"So as the twenty four of you may have already guessed from the lack of newbies in this cast, this is a new All Stars season." As Chris continued on, Courtney exchanged a look with Scott, both then looking away with the former scowling and the later looking awkward. Lightning, meanwhile, frowned at the mention of All Stars, the memory of his early elimination in it rushing back. "And as you also may have guessed by now, we're not doing Heroes vs Villains this time. It's gonna be a Battle of the Generations!"

Indeed, most of the contestants had already guessed as much due to each generation have a gender balanced eight participants each, but it was good to have confirmation. Shawn and Jasmine exchanged a high five, Harold pumped his fist with a "Booyah" while Leshawna smirked next to him, and B raised an eyebrow while giving a glance to Scott.

"Casting the lot of you was an interesting process," Chris continued, spinning around to look at the cast as they had made it outside of the airport building and out on to the runway. He first looked at the Revenge of the Island alumni. "You guys were probably the easiest. We brought back all six of you who didn't compete in the first All Stars. But since that left us two more male slots in need of filling, we had to choose two of the dudes from All Stars."

Frowning a bit as he recalled something, Chris shook it off. "Fans made it apparent they didn't want to see Mike or Cameron back, so we went with Lightning since he was the first of the All Stars eliminated."

"And why him over Sam?" Dakota asked, pointing a thumb at Scott with a glare. She was irritated but making sure not to get angry since this wasn't something worth going Dakotazoid over.

Chris shrugged innocently. "Scott's better for ratings, what can I say." Scott noticed the glare Dakota was giving him, as well as the other looks from his teammates since the attention had been drawn to him. He chuckled awkwardly. Chris, meanwhile, turned his attention to the Pahkitew Island crew.

"As for you guys, it was also a little bit of an easy process. Max and Scarlett are permanently banned from ever competing on the show ever again, I hate Ella, and Topher is stuck on... duties elsewhere." Chris chuckled mischievously, though the others had no idea why. "And since Sky is busy training for the Olympics, that just left you lot."

"Uh, no it doesn't," Sugar interrupted, hands on her hips and looking disappointed. "What about the wizard? Why ain't he back?"

The host's eye twitched, turning away from her to face the season one veterans instead. He took a deep long breath, turning his head up dismissively. "I have no idea who you're referring to, Sugar. Sounds like you're talking about some sort of dirty TRAITOR to me."

Silently, everyone took a second to process what Chris had meant. Nearly everyone there had seen The Ridonculous Race, and were well aware that Leonard had been part of the cast. While he didn't make it far, Ridonculous Race had been the biggest hit for the network since Total Drama, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to know this was what he was referring to. DJ and Courtney exchanged a look, both having come to the conclusion that this was likely why Owen, Noah, Geoff and by extension Bridgette weren't invited to this cast.

"And finally, we have our TDI vets," Chris finished, regaining composure and returning to his smiling self. "For you guys we went with Wannabe All Stars. People who probably could have made the cut to be on the first All Stars, only for us to end up thinking they weren't up to snuff. Bridgette was going to be the eighth member of your team, but due to... reasons, we decided to bring back Courtney from the first All Stars instead."

Looking over at Scott with a cheeky smirk, Chris chuckled. "Though we had our other reasons to bring her back as well."

Courtney sighed in annoyance, not even giving a look the dirt farmer's way. While she wasn't complaining about another shot at prize money, being the only former All Star on her team made her feel like a target could be on her back. Scott, too, was starting to feel this. Lightning wasn't, however, because when does he ever worry about anything?

The explanation on the casting done, Chris came to a stop in the middle of a runway strip, looking up at the sky and grinning. "And now, may I present to you the truly greatest return out of anything on this season. Please welcome back the Total Drama Jumbo Jet!"

Those from the season one cast gasped, everyone looking to the sky as the very same jet descended from above. Piloting with an annoyed glare, Chef brought the plane down the runway, expertly coming to a stop right next to Chris and the others.

"No way," Izzy said in awe. "We're having another World Tour?"

"Well I mean, they brought us to an airport, wasn't that obvious?" Harold pointed out, though Izzy either didn't hear him or ignored him.

"But didn't Sierra blow it to smithereens back in season three?" Beth asked, both confused and intimidated since this would be her first time flying on the deathtrap.

"Apparently globe trotting themes are big with fans right now," Chris answered, trying and failing to hide any bitterness to his tone. "So the producers gave us the budget needed to repair it. But hey, I guess I can't complain. I missed the big thing. And it looks good as new!"

On cue, one of the engines on the right wing sputtered and blew a concerning amount of smoke out. Those that had yet to ride the plane looked on in worry, but those that had knew this was going to be par for the course. One particular contestant was starting to look more concerned than the rest. B tapped his fingers together nervously, and Dawn took notice.

"Excuse me, Chris?" Dawn asked politely, raising her hand. "Will the required singing be returning for this season as well?"

"Pfft, required," Cody snarked in a voice low enough to not be heard. He knew very well that he had failed to sing in the vast majority of the songs he could have taken part in but didn't, yet nothing was ever done to him. But he wasn't about to bring this up to Chris.

"Why yes, Dawn, yes it is," the host answered happily, smiling directly at B, knowing fully well that he was the reason she had asked in the first place. "And unlike last time where the rule was hardly enforced after Duncan's ejection, we're going to make sure that EVERYONE present for a song will participate. Doesn't that sound great, Cody?"

" _Well crap,_ " Cody thought to himself, busted.

Meanwhile, B was beginning to sweat, something Chris took quick notice of. "However, we're on a tight schedule this season and those songs take up a lot of precious screentime, so we won't be doing them every episode like last time. Something more like every other episode instead. So no singing for today, at least." Seeing the silent genius relax a bit, Chris continued. "However, as I said the rules of singing will be STRICTLY enforced. If you don't sing, you're out. No exceptions."

That all said, Chris moved toward the Jumbo Jet as a set of stairs had lowered from the now open door in the side of the plane. B gulped, Dawn patting him on the arm reassuringly.

"There there, you'll think of something," she offered, trying to relax the normally mute genius.

"Maybe you could just do one or two words per song?" Brick added, also seeing his teammate's concern and feeling a need to help. "As long as it counts, that way you can get it out of the way."

While the Revenge of the Island cast tried to calm down B, Jasmine was giving Shawn a concerned look. "Are you gonna be alright with us up in the air in a closed in space?"

The zombie nut had been looking over the jet, taking it all in while tapping his chin in thought. He nodded at his girlfriend. "I'll have to give the plane a thorough checking each time we take off to make sure no lurchers snuck their way on board, but after that I should be fine. Being up in the air is a pretty safe place to avoid zombies as long as there aren't any already on the plane."

"Or you could just not since they don't even exist," Amy pointed out. She soon came to regret it as she once again felt the icy glare from Jasmine staring a hole through her. Deflated, she looked off and huffed. "Whatever, do what you want, I guess."

"AHEM." Loudly clearing his throat, all eyes turned back towards Chris, now standing next to the stairs leading up to the jet. "If you kids are done, we have a tour to go on. Even if you've watched World Tour before, we gotta cover all our bases."

Nobody really having anything to add or reply to with that, everyone followed the host on board. They were first brought to the large dining area. There were three plain tables spread throughout the room, with eight metal seats surrounding each. There was a small wooden shelf on one side of the room with a water pitcher, plates, and cups resting on top, and another shelf nearby with condiment bottles like ketchup and mustard on top.

"Here is, of course, your eating quarters," Chris said to point out the obvious. "Our Head Pilot Chef will so graciously be serving the lot of you three meals a day, giving you the best that airline food has to offer! It's also a nice little place to hang out and mingle if you need a change of scenery from where you're sleeping."

"Did you know my great great great grandfather Kevin was the one to invent plates?" Staci suddenly offered, getting a mix of confused or annoyed looks her way. "Ya, before him everyone just had to eat with their hands and get food everywhere."

"Uh... huh," Chris replied, not amused at the sudden input. "Moving on."

Next the contestants were brought to a room that consistently mostly of two simple wooden benches lining both walls. Above the benches attached to the walls were multiple arm straps that looked about as comfy as a root canal. Rodney had been chosen to demonstrate the straps, and the farm boy could be seen cringing as the flimsy straps struggled to go over his massive arms.

"Here is where our losers will be sleeping if they weren't fortunate enough to win the challenge," McLean explained, motioning to Rodney to prove his point. "You get a nice hard bench to rest your rear end, and some safety straps to keep you from getting ping ponged around the room in your sleep when we hit some turbulence."

"It was actually my great third cousin twice removed Cynthia that invented the seat belt," Staci once again added, earning a sigh from Chris. "Ya, before her if someone got in a crash they just flew out of the window!"

Nobody wanted to comment on the obviously fake tangent. Harold sucked in a breath, feeling the urge to point out the actual inventor of the seat belt, but he had watched Revenge of the Island and didn't want to seem mean by shooting down Staci's story.

"We all know that's a bunch of bull, but whatever," Chris continued, not feeling the need for restraint that Harold felt. "Moving on, let's see where our winners will be staying!"

The contestants were brought to a room that actually resembled what one would expect on an airplane. A fairly nice one at that. The room was well lit and colorful, a departure from the dull gray that the rest of the plane had been thus far. Comfy yellow seats lined the walls, and at the back of the room was even a mini bar with various beverages and treats sat behind glass. All non-alcoholic of course, since most of these players were too young to drink.

"And here we have the Winner's Area, a first class section made for comfort," Chris pointed out, walking down the room while many of the contestants tried out the chairs to confirm how pleasant they were. "Leshawna, Harold, and DJ, as alumni of Team Victory you might not remember it too well since you never stayed here."

"Actually I did make it here a few tim-" DJ began, only to be cut off by Chris suddenly starting again.

"ANYWAY, anytime your team wins a challenge, you get to stay here until we arrive at our next destination. If you don't want to need a chiropractor after the season from sitting on those loser benches too much, I'd prioritize trying to be here as much as possible."

Trent rubbed the armrests of a seat, Beth sitting next to him. "These ARE pretty nice. They must have replaced the seats after the old ones got blown up last time."

Suddenly, the musician felt something strange as he reached a bit farther down the side of the seat which had a wood siding. Looking down, his eyes went wide as he saw the source. Carved into the wood with a knife was a picture of Gwen's face. Those that had watched season three would remember that Duncan had carved it after her elimination. Looking over to see what Trent had found, Beth chuckled awkwardly.

"I guess some seats survived and got reused?"

Suddenly the scene changed to show Trent sitting in the jet's bathroom. It was a rather cramped room, just with a simple airplane toilet, sink, and a window on the side, but it was comparatively quite clean when stacked up to the usual outhouse confessional.

***** Confessional: Trent *****

"Look, I got over me and Gwen breaking up a long time ago," he explained to the camera. "And I was all for her and Duncan becoming a couple... not that he really treated her well and not that they lasted long, but still. I was cool with it. But I'm not gonna lie, seeing a reminder of her every time we stay in first class sucks a bit."

"What an excellent segway into introducing the confessional, Trent," Chris practically yelled as he suddenly threw open the door and barged into the confessional, making Trent yell and scoot back in shock. "Everyone group around, this is the confessional cam."

The remaining players all crowded around outside the bathroom, with Sugar and Lightning even managing to poke their heads in and make it even more cramped for Trent.

"Despite everything, something you all have in common is making confessionals on the toilet, so you should all feel right at home here when you feel the need to vent your frustrations." He chuckled, smiling at the still shocked musician. "Just remember to lock the door unlike our friend Trent here. Alternatively, we have a confessional in the cockpit. It didn't see much use last time, so feel free to try it out!"

***** Cockpit Confessional: Dave *****

Dave looked around at his surroundings. It was as Chris said, the cockpit of the plane. There were various panels, buttons, and such at the front of the plane all shoddily held in place. There was a pilot and co-pilot seat, and sat in the pilot seat was none other than Chef in his blue pilot outfit. He faced forward away from the camera, focusing on flying. On the dash were little bobble heads of Chris and Chef, and parachutes were attached to the backs of both seats.

"Huh, don't know why they wouldn't use this one more often. It definitely beats talking to the camera in a gross bathroom every time."

"Would you pipe down already?" Chef suddenly barked back at the germophobe, making him jump back and hold his arms up defensively. "I'm trying to fly a gosh darn plane over here!"

Returning to his flight position, Dave slowly eased up, giving the camera a wide eyed stare. "Aaaaand, now I see why they didn't use this one more often."

***** In the cargo hold *****

With the confessionals done for now, everyone had gathered in the largest room at the back of the plane. It was a spacious cargo hold, filled with various crates, boxes, and bags. Shawn had wasted no time in scurrying around the area, getting the heebie jeebies from the cramped cargo. He had to make sure it was clear of the zombie menace before one ended up popping out from around a corner.

"As you can see, this is the cargo hold," Chris pointed out, paying Shawn no mind. Nor did he pay any mind when B had started rummaging through various crates and boxes. "There isn't really anything game related to do here on a surface level, it's just where we store all our supplies and such for the show. Buuuut it makes for a pretty good place to sneak off to when you kids want to plot and have secret meetings."

Everyone took in the area, thinking over the potential of its uses. Since it was so massive and filled with junk, it definitely would be easy to get into some shenanigans in it without being caught. Sugar rubbed her chin in thought and Lightning grinned.

"And finally, we have one more room of importance to check out," Chris said, now noticing Shawn and B doing their own things. He snapped his fingers to get their attention. "Yo, you guys can mess around in here all you want when the tour is done. Get your butts in gear."

As the host led the cast away to their next destination, Shawn reluctantly so, Sugar noticed a strange door between the cargo and first class area. "Oooh, what's in here?"

Inviting herself in, Sugar shoved the door open to reveal the most lavish room yet. A top of the line flatscreen TV, a hot tub next to a wood burning oven. There was a piano, a comfy chair next to martini glasses, and a king sized bed.

"Well dang, ain't this place swanky," she observed, the others filing in after she had barged into the room, forcing Chris to follow her. "What if I wanna stay in here?"

Chris opened his mouth to reply, but Harold beat him to the punch. "This is Chris' room, it's off limits to us. It's also where most of the budget went to for this jet. You'd think they'd skip this part when they had to rebuild the thing, but I guess not."

"There's perks that come with being someone important, Harold," Chris replied matter of factly, sending a glare to him and then Sugar. "Now if you two are done interrupting me, I still have one more place to show you."

The final location Chris had brought the contestants to was a small room with a set of bleachers. There were spotlights shining down on to a stage that had a floral curtain backdrop and a sort of podium made from a drum. Nearby was an exit door, with a large tiki face on each side.

"And thus we come to my favorite part of the jet. The elimination ceremony!" Chris stood behind the drum podium, pulling a disgusting looking bag full of peanuts out from seemingly nowhere. "Every time a team loses, they'll be forced to vote off one of their own teammates. Those safe receive these barf bags full of peanuts."

"Didn't you give up on handing those out like as soon as Team Victory was gone?" Cody asked, getting the bag the host was holding thrown into his face as a response.

"As I was saying," Chris said, leveling a glare the geek's way. "The person that does NOT receive a barf bag will be promptly removed from the Jumbo Jet and get sent packing with just a parachute to protect themselves. And while we're on the subject of teams, even if you already know who you're on a team with, we need to make things official."

"Hey, this reminds me about how my great great great uncle Boris was the first person to serve peanuts at the circ-" Staci began to say, getting an intense glare from Chris as she started, but her mouth was quickly covered by the hand of Anne Maria, giving her talkative teammate a look that told her that she needed to be quiet.

"Hehe, you were saying?" Anne Maria asked.

***** Confessional: Anne Maria *****

"Look, I don't watch too much of this show, but World Tour was one of the few seasons that I did. And that freaky green kid that tricked me with that fake diamond ended up getting targeted by McLean when he wouldn't shut his yap. The last thing we need is Chatterbox getting thrown out, stowing away in the plane, and becoming like him. Plus we don't need to be down someone already, especially if the big guy ends up not being able to sing."

***** In the dining area *****

Chris had eventually motioned everyone back into the dining area, making all of the generation teams stand on separate circles placed apart form each other. Those from Total Drama Island stood on a blue circle, Revenge of the Island reps stood on a green circle, and Pahkitew Island alumni on a red circle. Walking down the room, Chris first came to a stop at the red circle.

"Those of you from the third generation. From now on you will be known as... Team Explosive!"

On screen a red team logo appeared, showing a stick of dynamite with the fuse lit. The host then moved down to the green circle.

"You guys from the second generation? You all will be known as... Team Radioactive!"

Once again the team logo flashed on screen, this time in green. It was a vat of leaking toxic waste with a skull symbol on the front. Finally, Chris arrived at the blue circle.

"And of course, my veterans from the first generation. Collectively, you all make up... Team Old School!"

The final logo to appear, this one in blue, displayed the thousand foot high cliff from Camp Wawanakwa.

As the teams murmured in discussion about these names and logos, Izzy looked let down. "Aw come on, that name's kinda boring compared to radioactive and explosive isn't it?" She motioned at the other logos. "I mean those sound all exciting and dangerous, and ours is just all bluuuh."

Folding his arms, Chris gave the lunatic a curious look. "And do you have a better suggestion?"

"Hmmm." Izzy rubbed her chin, thinking over her options. Team Explosivo? Nah, that was so season two. Team Victory? No, that didn't work out so well for the last team to try it. "How about-"

"It was a rhetorical question," Chris cut off, placing a hand in front of her face to prevent her from finishing. "It's Team Old School."

Ignoring the glare now being sent his way from Izzy, Chris walked off to his personal quarters for what he felt was well earned relaxation time. "You may all now do as you please until we arrive at the location of your first challenge. I'll be relaxing in the meanwhile."

"If you don't mind me asking, what IS the first location?" Sammy asked curiously.

"Why yes, yes I do mind you asking," Chris replied, narrowing his eyes at the nice twin before returning to his smile. "But eh, what the heck, I'll tell ya. So last World Tour, we were able to hit six out of the seven continents throughout the season. We decided to start things off this time by hitting the one we missed first."

Realization quickly dawned on those that had a basic memory of geography, with those in outfits made more for warmer environments beginning to look nervous since they hadn't packed anything other than more copies of the same outfit, per their contract's orders.

"I'm going to go ahead and guess that we aren't going to be provided coats to protect from the Antarctic cold, right?" DJ asked.

"You kids know me so well! You really ARE All Stars!" With a last mischievous, taunting laugh, the host took his leave.

***** Cockpit Confessional: Scott *****

The devious leaned his back against the co-pilot seat, giving the camera an annoyed glare. "Right now my plan is to lay low and not make any big waves. Other than Lightning, the last thing most of the guys on my team remember me for is getting their butts kicked off in season four. I can already tell the mutant has it out for me since they brought me back instead of her boyfriend. Last thing I need is getting kicked off early because these people don't know how to let go of a grudge."

"He probably just wants to stay because he wants to try hooking back up with Courtney," Chef commented from his seat, not bothering to turn around. Flustered, Scott stepped towards the pilot with a puffed out chest.

"I want the money, she ain't the only reason I want to stay!"

"Yeah, but she's the main reason," Chef shot back, chuckling as he turned to face the farmer. "Don't kid yourself, dirt boy."

Scott simply turned away with his arms folded, mumbling obscenities under his breath but failing to deny the accusation.

***** In the cargo hold *****

With the required tour over, the cast's zombie fanatic was ready to resume his jet search, making sure the vessel was free of the undead. Due to the massive size of the cargo hold, but mostly just to remain in each other's company, he had two tag alongs in the form of Jasmine and Sammy. As they entered the room, the trio were surprised to see that they had actually been beaten to beginning their investigation. Dawn and B were looking through one crate, with Brick looking through another nearby. Curious, Shawn approached the group.

"You guys checking for zombies too?" he asked, unsure why else they'd all be here as well.

"Not quite," Dawn answered without looking up from the crate. She picked up a small busted speaker, showing it to B who smiled and nodded. He look the piece and tucked it away into a pocket while the search continued. "We're rummaging through the cargo to help B with something."

"Would you care to help us?" Brick asked, offering the Pahkitew alumni a warm smile. "We could really use some more hands on deck."

The third generation trio exchanged looks of uncertainty. Jasmine decided to voice the obvious. "I don't know. No offense, but it's probably not a great idea to be helping the enemy right out of the gate."

"Technically the competition hasn't truly started yet," Sammy pointed out. "So they're not our enemies right now."

Seemingly at an impasse, the girls looked to Shawn to break the tie. The scruffy boy stroked his stubble in thought, weighing their options. "Well, we DO need to look through the cargo anyway, so it would be easy to help." He snapped his fingers, thinking of an idea. "Tell ya what, since this could end up helping you guys in the long run, we'll help under the condition that you guys help me with my zombie checks as long as you're still in the game. This cargo hold is pretty massive, so the extra help would definitely make things more efficient."

There was a mix of reactions from the second generation trio. Brick seemed the most confused of all, though if his puzzlement was over the zombie subject or just from committing to such a long term deal was up to debate. Dawn, meanwhile, smiled in response. She seemed to have no objections with the deal. After looking down and pondering it, B finally flashed the conspiracy nut a thumbs up, accepting the conditions of the deal.

"Sweet!" Shawn and the others gathered around to join the Revenge of the Island competitors. "So what are you guys looking for?"

***** Confessional: Jasmine *****

"I'll be honest, I still don't fully understand Shawn's fascination with zombies," the Australian admitted, having to hunch over a bit in the bathroom due to her immense height. "But hey, I like that he's so weird. As for those Team Radioactive guys, they seem alright enough. I'm not too crazy about helping them out, but if they're willing to help keep Shawn at ease then I guess it's a fair trade."

***** Somewhere over Antarctica *****

The plane ride to the first destination was largely uneventful. Outside of the cargo hold group, the rest of the competitors stuck mostly to their own teams to catch up and discuss potential strategies. They all stuck to the first class area since there was no reason to stay in economy until they had to. Eventually, they could look out the window to see miles upon miles of ice and snow. Landing the Jumbo Jet on the ice would be no easy feat, but Chef was a talented man when he cared and he pulled it off.

Eventually everyone found their way outside after a slide emerged from one of the exits to bring everyone down to the ice. The crowd of competitors shivered, hugging themselves in a fruitless attempt for warmth. Chris, meanwhile, joined the group while wearing a large comfy coat, snow boots, and thick cozy mittens. He was as toasty and comfortable as anyone in Antarctica could be, but no one from the cast bothered to complain since they knew this would always be the case as the difference between their treatment and the host's.

"Welcome to the site of your very first challenge of the season," McLean started, motioning around him to ice, ice, and more ice. "Antarctica is the world's lowest populated continent. That might have something to do with it also being the coldest, windiest, and driest continent. Not a whole lot to do here unless you really REALLY like ice skating."

Chris moved in front of three huge slabs of ice, each clearly holding something frozen within, though it was hard to see through the thick ice. "Your challenge is a throwback to the first challenge from World Tour. But instead of racing to the Nile, you'll be racing to the South Pole! We've traded the desert for a tundra."

"Actually, most of Antarctica could still be described as a desert due to the low amount of precipitation," Courtney pointed out, receiving agreeing nods from Cody and B. "Not all deserts are the hot sandy kind, a lot of them are like this."

The sinister host narrowed his eyes at the former All Star, disappointed. "Court, I expect those kind of dumb tangents out of Harold, not you."

***** Confessional: Courtney *****

"Being compared to Harold... yeah, not sure if I've ever been more insulted."

***** In Antarctica *****

"As I was saying," the host continued, motioning to the huge blocks of ice. "You all will be racing to the South Pole. Inside these blocks of ice are three things you'll be needing. First is an eight seated snowmobile, which will be KINDA useful to make such a big trip. Next is a GPS which will give you directions to the South Pole, equally useful. And perhaps most useful of all if you want to win is a flag baring your team's logo. The first team to plant their flag next to the South Pole wins first class. The team that does it last gets to be the first team of the season to send some sorry loser packing!"

The crowd looked each other over, feeling the sense of competition. None of them wanted the distinction of being the first person eliminated. Beardo and Staci exchanged a look, both having realized that unless this was a surprise double elimination, at least one of them would avoid being the first boot again. Heck, if Team Old School lost maybe even both of them. Some like Lightning and Shawn looked confident. Others like Beth and Sammy seemed nervous. And then there was Izzy, but no one dared to wonder what was going on in her mind.

"Part one is simple, retrieve everything you need from the ice by any means necessary." Chris looked over at the jumbo jet where a ramp had just opened, making it possible to enter the cargo hold. "Anything you can find in the cargo hold is fair game to use, so go wild. First team to get everything out of the ice will receive a reward that will help during the race. The team that frees everything last will get a handicap. So don't be last!"

Reaching into his coat pocket, Chris pulled out an item the contestants recognized well. His trusty air horn. Plugging their ears, they braced themselves just in time for the host's mighty blast with the device. "Begin!"

Everyone ran up to their giant slabs of ice, though no one made an immediate move to do anything to it since they were far too massive for it to be an easy endeavor. Shawn was the first to make a call after looking from the ice to his team.

"Alright, I'd say we probably have the most potential body heat out of any of these teams," he pointed out, noting the size of both Rodney and Beardo. "We could have our larger teammates working on melting bits of the ice while the rest of us check the cargo for something useful."

"I don't know, could we really do much to it just using body heat?" Rodney asked skeptically, in awe at the size of this ice. It was an absolute unit.

"It'll be fine," Jasmine replied. "Some gradual progress is better than no progress. Shawn, Sammy, and I already did some looking around in the cargo hold so we can afford having less searchers."

The outback girl gave Rodney a look to see if he had been convinced. As it turns out, looking into her eyes made Rodney sigh dreamily, throwing up an approving thumbs up. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

"Alright, then Jasmine, Sugar, Rodney, and Beardo will stay out here and try to melt some of the ice while the rest of us hit up the cargo," the zombie nut continued, pointing a thumb at the plane. "Since me and Sammy already got a feel of the place, Amy can search with me and Dave can search with her."

Shawn wasn't particularly thrilled at the idea of pairing up with Amy to search for things to help with the ice, but he knew fully well that pairing the evil twin with her sister was a bad idea for everyone involved. It was for the good of the team that he be the one to deal with her. Dave and Sammy exchanged a nod and jogged off towards the plan, while Amy rolled her eyes and reluctantly followed the defacto team captain.

The other teams, meanwhile, had all chosen to begin searching the cargo hold. Of the two, however, Team Radioactive had the distinct advantage of also having members who had previously searched the area. With Dawn and B directing traffic, Scott, Anne Maria, and Staci carried pickaxes out to their ice. Meanwhile, Team Old School was searching more or less blindly for anything of use.

"I wonder if Chris has any flame throwers lying around?" Izzy wondered out loud as she and Trent searched through one of the crates. "That would help!"

The musician chuckled awkwardly, half from amusement and the other half from the scary thought of Izzy being allowed to use a flame thrower in the first place. "Yeah, somehow I doubt we're gonna find one of those just lying around."

Eventually everyone had gathered the supplies they felt would work. Team Radioactive stuck with their pickaxes, getting to work on chipping away the ice. Team Old School had eventually stumbled upon a crate full of tools and decided to make due with that. DJ and Leshawna went to town on the ice with hammers, Trent and Courtney stood on opposite ends of a two handed saw to try and cut through the ice, with Harold, Beth, and Cody alternating from using whatever else they could find in the toolbox they brought with varying results. Izzy had elected to stay in the cargo hold to look for anything else of use that might help better. Her teammates allowed this to maximize the time they didn't have to worry about being around her using dangerous tools.

Unfortunately for both teams, though, they were quickly losing progress to Team Explosive. Shawn had located a crate holding ice climbing equipment during his zombie search, so he and Amy brought back enough for the whole team to use. Sammy meanwhile had brought back a camping stove she had noticed during the aforementioned search, lit it with a lighter found in the same crate, and was using it to help melt parts of the ice at a much quicker pace. Meanwhile she had directed Dave to bring back some old blankets found elsewhere to help those that had been formerly melting parts of the ice with their body heat. With Shawn and Jasmine calling directions, the team was making short work of their goal with ice axes and ice picks.

This early lead didn't go unnoticed by the others, with Lightning being the first to speak out about it. "Hey, we ain't about to let them noobies smoke us on the first challenge, are we?" He increased the speed of his work, hoping to single handedly catch up.

"Brother's right," Leshawna commented from the Gen One team's area, watching as Rodney lobbed off a sizable chunk with a single ice pick thrust. "At the rate they're going, our odds ain't looking too good."

Courtney didn't bother looking at the other team, focusing instead on her sawing. "Well hopefully Izzy finds something useful that can turn things around. For now just try picking up the pace and hoping for the best."

The team did just that, going faster to try in vain to catch up. But in vain it seemed to be, since Team Explosive continued to make good progress. Sugar lodged an ice axe into one section, putting her foot against the block of ice and pulling a chunk out with Beardo providing a guillotine sound effect as she did so. The two exchanged a high five and continued their work. Nearby, Dave and Amy had nearly made it to the GPS, a small black device with a screen.

Between the early domination from the Pahkitew alumni and the upped pace from Team Old School, Scott in particular was feeling the pressure. After all, he didn't know how well his odds fared if his team were to send someone home first. As he glanced over at Team Explosive nervously, he caught look of something. Nearby on the ground next to Sammy, who was focusing on melting the block, was a lighter. With such a puny flame by itself it wouldn't make much of a difference on its own, so it had already served its purpose for her. But ever the schemer, Scott had an idea.

Doing his best to go unnoticed by the focused Gen Three team members, he snuck over and swiped up the lighter. When he returned to his own team's block of ice, he went straight to Anne Maria. "I have an idea. I need one of your cans of hairspray."

The Jersey girl didn't seem too pleased at the offer, reeling away from the farmer and clutching her spray can protectively. "Excuse you? Nobody touches my spray, especially not a slimeball like you, capiche?"

"It'll be just for a second, you don't want us to lose do ya?" Scott asked again, trying to mask any frustration in his tone since he was feeling the urgency.

Dawn blinked, looking on at the former villain skeptically. But after looking for a bit she felt... nothing malicious? Sincerity in what he was saying? How strange...

"I think it's worth a try, it wouldn't hurt to let him have it momentarily," the moonchild commented, getting surprised reactions from B and Dakota next to her. "As far as I can tell, he isn't trying to deceive you."

Anne Maria was equally as surprised as her teammates to hear the support for Scott's suggestion. But after taking another look as Team Explosive to see that they had now retrieved their GPS and were now closing in on getting their flag, she sighed and shoved the spray can into Scott's arms. "Fine. But this betta work."

Scott, too, had not been expecting words of agreement from Dawn, so he was slightly caught off guard when Anna Maria handed the can over. But he had to work fast, so he held up the lighter in front of the nozzle and took aim at their block of ice. "You guys might wanna stand back."

Once his teammates had did just that, he held down the nozzle and lit the lighter. Just as planned, the highly combustible hair spray turned into a makeshift flame thrower, showering the ice in flames that quickly melted through it. Both of the opposing teams were caught off guard by the sudden blast of heat, looking on in shock.

"Welp, so much for avoiding getting our stuff last," Cody commented, knowing their team was still much too behind Team Explosive and that this would easily put Team Radioactive ahead of them.

"Aw, no fair! Using fire was my idea first." Those on her team looked over to the cargo hold ramp at the sound of Izzy's voice, their eyes all going wide once they saw her. "Also, look what I found, guys!"

The redhead ran over to her teammates wielding a chainsaw, revving it up to bring the device to life. As the tool whired and the saw spun, the members of Team Old School quickly dived out of the way. Once she had reached the ice, Izzy began cutting through it like butter.

"Woah..." Rodney looked on at his fellow redhead cutting up the ice in awe, having never seen a girl handle a power tool quite like that before. Needless to say, he was smitten. But he was quickly snapped out of it by a loud air horn blast. Or at least the realistic sound effect of one, courtesy of Beardo.

"We need to move quick," Dave pointed out, the teammates nodding in agreement. They had since freed their flag so now only lacked freeing the massive eight seat snowmobile. Everyone put their all to it, and the race became neck and neck.

Team Radioactive had to take short pauses between blasts of fire so that the items wouldn't be damaged by the fire. Once they had melted close enough, Lightning and Dakota dislodged both their GPS and their flag, allowing Scott to continue. Izzy, meanwhile, cut a small chunk out of the block that held their GPS, allowing DJ and Harold to easily free it nearby. She then did the same to their flag, with Beth and Trent also retrieving that. All three teams were down to just the snowmobile. It looked to be anyone's game. But eventually the confirmation came from Chris as one snowmobile emerged from the ice first.

"And the winners of part one are... Team Old School!"

The season one veterans cheered for joy, gathered around their newly freed ride. Izzy kissed the now turned off chainsaw, then held it up victoriously.

"And close behind them in second place," the host continued. "Is... Team Radioactive!"

Scott sneered over at the winning team, giving Anne Maria back her hair spray and tossing away the lighter in frustration. While they hadn't lost, the annoyance of coming so close to winning made second place feel just as bad. The feeling wasn't mutual for the Pahkitew newcomers, though. They looked on in disappointment, having just freed their snowmobile as well.

"Which of course means our losers for the first part of the challenge are Team Explosive," Chris confirmed, laughing at the team's misfortune. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote with three buttons, pressing the button colored red. "So they get the punishment!"

Suddenly, a mechanical click went off and the back two seats on Team Explosive's snowmobile detached from the rest of the vehicle. Chef emerged from who knows where, pushing away the dislodged seats off screen.

"As punishment, your eight man team will now be down two seats, making your ride to the South Pole all the more difficult." The host turned his attention to Team Old School. "As for our winners, they each get a reward that will help them in part two of the challenge."

Chef returned, passing out red stick-like instruments to each of the members of Team Old School. They were long with a rubber handle and two prongs at the end.

"Cattle prods?" Beth asked, the first to recognize the device. "What do we need these for?"

"What indeed?" Chris replied unhelpfully, turning to face the camera with his trademark smug grin. "Will I tell them what the cattle prods are for? How will the losers deal with not having enough seats for their team? And who will win the race to the South Pole? Answers will be revealed, next time on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

The contestants watched with varying expressions of annoyance and disdain as their host signed off, with Sugar leaning over to Amy to whisper that actual last words some of the others had been silently thinking. "Kind of a long winded title, ain't it?"

**Current Standings:**

**Voting Confessionals:**

N/A

**Remaining Contestants:**

Team Old School: Izzy, DJ, Harold, Leshawna, Trent, Beth, Cody, Courtney

Team Radioactive: Brick, Anne Maria, B, Staci, Dawn, Dakota, Scott, Lightning

Team Explosive: Rodney, Sugar, Sammy, Amy, Jasmine, Shawn, Dave, Beardo

**Elimination Order:**

N/A


	2. A Cool Reunion part 2

"Previously on Battle of the Generations," Chris said in a voice over, accompanying relevant clips playing during everything he said. "We brought back eight competitors from all three Total Drama generations to duke it out in an All Stars season for the ages! And even better, also returning was none other than the Jumbo Jet! After breaking up the victims in teams from their respective generations, we dropped them off in Antarctica for their first challenge. They first had to retrieve items out of a huge block of ice by any means necessary. Team Explosive took an early lead thanks to Shawn and Jasmine's leadership, but ultimately some chainsaw craziness from Izzy and homemade flame throwing from Scott put Teams Old School and Radioactive in 1st and 2nd respectively. Can Team Explosive recover on the race to the South Pole? Can Team Old School keep their momentum going? And just who will be the first one I get to kick out of our plane? All of these questions and more, right here right now on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

***** Opening Credits *****

The scene opened on the teens all gathered around their snowmobiles, arms wrapped around themselves and shivering while Chris and Chef stood nearby.

"Alright gang, you have five minutes to prepare your game plan before the race to the South Pole begins. Get to it!"

Murmuring among teams started up immediately. Harold was eager to take the GPS for Team Old School. "I can be our navigator if no one else wants to do it. I think my time at Navigation Steve's Navigation Camp will really come in handy here. Who wants to be the driver?"

"Oh, oh, I do!" Izzy jumped up and down with her hand raised, a wicked grin spread on her face. "Izzy will get us there lickety split."

"No offense, sugar, we really appreciate you helping us win part one," Leshawna cut in, placing a hand on Izzy's shoulder. "But that ain't happening. Anyone else wanna drive?"

"I can do it," Courtney answered. "Can't be any harder to drive than DJ's tour bus from a few year ago."

"We never did get the deposit back on that thing," DJ trailed off, arms folded and looking down in annoyance.

Beth, meanwhile, was cautiously looking over the cattle prod each of them had been given. "I just want to know what these things are for. Knowing Chris, it can't be good."

While the team went silent to contemplate the use of the tool, some of Team Radioactive's members looked on at Scott hesitantly.

"Come on, I drive grand pappy's truck back home all the time, I can handle this thing no problem," he insisted, noting unconvinced looks from Dakota and B particularly. "I helped us not lose part one, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but we didn't WIN it either," Anne Maria pointed out, clutching her hair spray a bit more protectively. "And don't think that just one good move is gonna make people forget you being sketchy."

"Bickering won't get us anywhere, I'm afraid." Dawn had took it upon herself to retrieve the GPS for the team since their most tech inclined teammate wasn't in a position to give directions. "If it helps quell any doubts, I'll take up navigating. I have as much reason as any of us to mistrust Scott so I'll be sure he's kept on track."

No one seemed to have any opposition, Scott included, so the team began to get into position on the snowmobile. Meanwhile, the final team was figuring out how to make use of their handicap of having two less seats than the others.

"Alright, Shawn and I can share a seat with him sitting on my lap, but we still need two of you to do the same," Jasmine pointed out, looking over the team. "Any takers?"

An awkward silence spread across the squad. Sugar whistled non-nonchalantly while Dave averted his eyes at the thought of having to share space with someone else. Finally, of all people, Amy raised her hand.

"I think I could share a seat with Rodney." She gave him a smile, as sweet as she could manage. "If he's ok with that, at least."

Unsurprisingly, rather than replying with anything actually legible, Rodney responded by babbling nondescript nonsense. His face turned red and he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

***** Confessional: Amy** ***

"Look, I didn't WANT to have to share a seat with anyone, but it's weirding me out how much tall girl and her gross boyfriend are defending my lame-o sister. I need to start getting people on MY side because, uh hello, Sammey being more popular than me? Not in a million years." She grinned devilishly. "Rodney looked like the easiest to get on my side. He'll be loyal to me before the end of the day."

***** Somewhere in Antarctica *****

The teams had all since gotten into position. Courtney and Scott has taken positions behind the wheel as their team's respective drivers, with Harold and Dawn in the seats next to them as navigators. After the pairing issue had been resolved, Sammy handled driving for her team while Dave manned the GPS. At the back of the vehicle for Team Explosive, Shawn sat on Jasmine's lap while Amy sat on Rodney's. The farm boy's face was still a deep shade of red, while Beardo provided a sputtering engine sound effect despite how the snowmobile hadn't been started up yet.

"Alright kids, simple enough, don't be the last to show up to the South Pole." Holding up his trusty air horn, the sadistic host gave it a mighty blast to signify the start of the next phase. "Begin!"

Courtney, Sammy, and Scott all took off without hesitation. They put the pedal to the metal, leaning forward as they drove as fast as their snow mobiles would take them. It was after about five minutes or so that someone made an observation.

"Sha-why the heck are we still neck and neck with the other teams?" Lightning asked loud enough for all three teams to hear.

Indeed, while there was space between the three vehicles, they were all more or less neck and neck with no sign of anyone pulling ahead of the other. Their vehicles were all going as fast as they could, and it was clear none were more fast than the others.

"Huh. Yeah, that is kinda weird, ain't it?" Trent glanced over at the other teams with a raised eyebrow. "It'll be a pretty boring race if it keeps up like this the whole time."

"Well knowing Chris it can't be that easy," Cody pointed out. He looked down at the cattle prod in his hand, eyes going wide in realization. "Wait a minute, you don't think we're supposed to use these things on THEM do you?"

"We aren't electrocuting anyone," DJ said matter of factly, lowering Cody's prod down. "Besides, that'd give us even more of a boring advantage. That can't be it."

Meanwhile, Team Explosive were also thinking over Lightning's observation, with Sugar breaking the silence. "Well shoot, something's gotta happen to make this more interesting, how far away are we from that pole anyhow?"

Dave squinted as he read the GPS. "The South Pole is at the Amundsen-Scott station and we're currently about... a little under 80 miles away from it."

"So we're in it for the long haul," Shawn confirmed, scanning the icy terrain for anything suspicious. "Something's gotta give soon. Stay on your toes, guy-"

Shawn was cut off by a sudden loud bang coming from behind. Due to the close proximity of everyone, all teams quickly glanced back to see the source of the noise. Sure enough, a helicopter was fast approaching overhead, a familiar grinning host leaning out the window with a stick of dynamite in hand.

"You kids were probably beginning to wonder when things were going to get more interesting," Chris yelled once the helicopter was close enough for the contestants to hear him. "And you're in luck! This is that moment."

Casually, he chucked the stick of dynamite in front of the group. It landed just a bit in front of Team Radioactive's path, causing their snowmobile to swerve out of the way wildly before Scott corrected their path.

"Oh, great," Staci grumbled, wanting to make a quip about her ancestor that invented explosives but being too stressed to do so. "Could this-"

"Don't say it!" Brick pleaded in vain, but it was too late.

"-get any worse?"

***DING DING DING***

"Why yes, Staci, yes it can." Chris laughed, a familiar musical note symbol appearing in the top corner of the screen. "I trust you're all familiar with the singing from World Tour, correct?"

"I thought you said we were only doing them every other episode or so," Dave whined in frustration.

"Right you are." Chris chucked another stick of dynamite down for good measure, nearly hitting Team Old School's vehicle in the process. "Lucky for you guys we're on the second part of a two parter premier! So yeah, you better get to singing with your dodging. Make it something thematic to this icy location, gotta work with what you got am I right?"

There were a collections of groans and murmurs from the group of contestants, B in particular looking especially stressed. With a quick glance, Courtney could tell no one wanted to bite the bullet and start. Of course, that was perfectly fine with her.

"Well, I may as well get us started," she commented, trying to hide the bit of enjoyment she got from doing so.

* * *

A soft piano melody began to play as the three teams continued swerving away from the dynamite. Courtney had just done one such maneuver while delivering the song's first line. _"Gotta keep our cool against the dynamite. No time to cry or scream."_

Since his teammate had taken the lead, Trent decided to take the next part. _"Can't let it break your concentration, and get blown to smithereens."_

_"Why did we sign up once again for a game where we could die?"_ Beth lamented in song form as she covered her ears.

_"We could all be back home right now, safe and inside,"_ DJ added, using the cattle prod to cover his head as if it were some sort of shield.

Harold glanced up at the helicopter's position, doing his best to point directions out to the driver since he couldn't currently speak directions. _"I guess the money talks, still fame to seek, even if we risk becoming debris."_

Leshawna almost chuckled at the accuracy of Harold's observation, before a close by explosion made her go wide eyed. _"It's a raw deal, but what did we expect from this show?"_

Cody opened his mouth to sing the next line, but Izzy quickly beat him to it. _"Guess we reap what we soooooow!"_

She grinned at Cody, who sighed as he realized he had been left to start the chorus. _"But man this bloooows. This fricken blooooows. Why the heck did we come back for more?"_

With the groundwork laid, now the entirety of Team Old School sung together. _"Man this bloooows, this fricken bloooows. One wrong turn and we're done for!"_

The other two teams were impressed at how well Team Old School had taken the lead in singing, though to their credit many of them had experience from World Tour. Now it was time for one of them to pick up the mantle, and the first volunteer came as a surprise to some.

_"We were all aware, this show ain't child's play,"_ Beardo bellowed in a surprisingly pleasant singing voice, those on his team not used to hearing him do anything other than make noises taken back by his outburst.

Sugar, not one to be upstaged, was the first on the team to recover and continue on. _"Well now the game goes on, no point cryin' over it anyway."_

As the teams continued juggling focus on both the song and avoiding explosions, they were slowly beginning to drift apart in varying directions. Almost as if the dynamite was herding them in which way to go. And by almost, it was definitely doing that. Meanwhile the music grew more upbeat as more instruments joined in.

_"Let's hurry and gain more distance,"_ Shawn eventually continued, _"This won't be our downfall."_

_"There's no way for us to foresee,"_ Jasmine added next since her boyfriend had just gone, _"What comes next, after all."_

Sammy was starting to feel a bit more motivated listening to the singing, avoiding another dynamite blast with ease. _"We can do this, won't go kaboom. Done this before, it's nothing new."_

Dave, meanwhile, wasn't feeling as confident as another blast made him jump back in fear. _"Still, you have to say this is crappy."_

_"I agree,"_ Rodney chimed in when an explosion caused multiple chunks of ice to fly towards the snowmobile, all pelting the farmer due to his large frame.

_"Man this blooooows, this fricken blooooows."_ Rodney had begun the chorus, but was noticeably having a hard time keeping focus when Amy sung it alongside him. She looked back at him with a sly grin, causing his face to turn a deep red. How he was somehow able to hold his singing given his speech track record in such situations was a mystery. _"Because we could still maybe diiiiie."_

_"Man this bloooows, this fricken bloooows,"_ now sung the entirety of Team Explosive, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. _"We don't want to say goodbye."_

Now that the other two teams had all gone in one way or another, it was Team Radioactive's turn to step up to the plate. Of note, a nervous looking B was seemingly digging through his coat pocket for something. Meanwhile, Anne Maria was unsurprisingly the first to pipe up. _"I demand, we'll see another day."_

Her singing voice wasn't the most pleasant, but no one was about to tell her that. Scott seemingly grumbled something under his breath before reluctantly following up. _"That's the plan, moro-"_ before finishing the line he noticed Anne Maria giving him a stink eye, making him quickly clear his throat. _"Er, Anne!"_

She narrowed her eyes but backed away, Scott chuckling nervously while returning his focus to driving. Meanwhile the music hit its most triumphant tune, while the teams were now all separated quite a bit away thanks to the dynamite herding. Nonetheless, they somehow still all heard each other's singing.

_"The ice could break, we'd fall in, and then we'd be drowned,"_ Brick lamented, lifting his arm up dramatically as he sung from the heart.

_"Or be sent off an icy cliff down to our burial ground,"_ Dakota added, lifting her arm up in the opposite direction as Brick.

_"Sha-just ignore the danger from all these big ol' blasts."_ Lightning posed behind Brick and Dakota, though he opted for a double arm flex rather than something more fitting.

_"This danger's going nowhere. All we can do is go fast!"_ Staci completed the pose in front of the other three, hunched down with both arms outstretched.

Dawn gave B a quick glance, checking on how he was holding up. He was hunched over, frantically tinkering with something. He held up a finger to signify 'One more second,' so she nodded. Just had to buy him a little more time.

_"Still this blooooows, this fricken blooooows,"_ Dawn continued, one of the few competitors relatively undeterred by the scattering dynamite. _"It's not time for us to begone."_

_"Man this bloooows, this fricken blooooows,"_ sung the entirety of Team Radioactive, minus B. Many teammates were giving the silent genius looks of concern as they knew the song was quickly coming to an end. _"But it's nothing we can't take on."_

_"This will not be our doomsday,"_ now sung the entirety of the cast, once again minus B. _"Now the game goes ooooooon."_

Suddenly, B breathed a sign of relief and held up what he had been tinkering with. It was a small device, shaped like a box and looking like it was made out of scrap. On the back of the device was a small circular speaker, and on the front the keypad that one would have seen on an old flip phone.

B quickly typed away on the keypad, prompting an electronic voice to bellow from the speaker. _"NO POINT CRYIN' OVER IT ANYWAY."_

* * *

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Time out." Chris looked down in befuddlement from the helicopter currently positioned over Team Radioactive. "What the heck was that?"

"B made that device during the plane ride here using the spare parts in the cargo area," Dawn explained, B showing off his invention to his team proudly. "It allows him to produce singing despite not speaking himself."

"Well that's cheating," Chris complained from overhead, eyes narrowed. "It wasn't really him singing then, now was it?"

"Actually, there's nothing in the contract that specifies that the singing MUST be through your own voice," Brick pointed out. "B is still the one producing the singing, he has to type it all into his doohickey and everything. So technically, it is still him creating the music."

Chris held up a finger, but paused before saying anything. He pulled a copy of the contract from his back pocket and gave it a quick scan. Eventually he face palmed, Chef chuckling in the pilot's seat next to him.

"Guess they've got you there, eh McLean?"

The host glared and pouted, crossing his arms in annoyance. "Fine, whatever, I'll allow it.

***** Confessional: B *****

B spun the device on his finger, using his other hand to flash the camera a finger pistol.

***** In Antarctica *****

"So, what, now the big guy can actually talk to us from now on?" Anne Maria asked, reaching to touch B's invention only for the silent genius to tuck it back into his jacket pocket.

"I'm afraid not," Dawn answered. "From what I understand, it's not the most durable piece of technology since it was made from spare junk in the Jumbo Jet. B only intends to use it for the required singing so as to not risk it malfunctioning when he needs it."

"Smart thinking." Staci leaned forward, earning an annoyed look from some teammates. "It reminds me about the time my great great great great uncle Gonzalo invented the speaker. Yah, before him-"

"Not to interrupt or anything," Scott said from the driver seat, looking around. "But uh, is it me or are the other two teams nowhere to be seen?"

Sure enough, the former villain's observation was spot on. From what they could see, there was no sign of the other two teams. Just ice, ice, and more ice as far as the eye could see.

"Weird." Dakota looked behind them, still seeing no other signs of life. "Wonder where everyone went."

As it turned out, the other teams were making the same realization. Or as one such contestant so eloquently put it...

"Where in the Sam Hill did them other buncha losers run off too?" Sugar scanned the frozen tundra, wondering how they had so quickly been separated from the others when they were just all neck and neck. Her teammates were all just gathering their bearings, while Beardo provided the sound of a steam locomotive as their snowmobile powered along.

"I guess we all got separated during that song," Shawn observed, peeking over their ride to make sure it hadn't sustained any damage. "We were all so distracted we just didn't notice that we got split up."

"Chris must have used the dynamite to herd us away from each other," Jasmine added. "Like we said, it would have been boring if we were neck and neck the whole race so they needed to get us away somehow."

Dave peered down at the GPS, frowning as he read the directions. "Yeah, we definitely got sent off course quite a bit. If we want to get to the South Pole as fast as possible we're going to have to go through some pretty rough terrain."

Raising an eyebrow at that comment, Amy smirked and hugged Rodney around the neck. "You'll hold on to me in case things get too bumpy, right Rodney?" she asked in a whisper. The lumbering farm boy babbled his usual gibberish in response. Sugar couldn't help but notice the display, chuckling to herself.

***** Confessional: Sugar *****

"Heh, that Amy's a willy one. She's playing ol' Rodney like he's uncle Billy Bob's banjo." She rubbed her chin in thought. "Maybe it wouldn't be a half bad idea to team up with her later. Too many goodie two shoes on our team, may be good fur the both of us if we stuck together."

***** In Antarctica *****

Meanwhile with Team Old School, Harold looked on at the GPS in annoyance. "GOSH, we're way off course now."

"Relax, sugar, if we're off course that means the other teams are too," Leshawna pointed out, wincing when they drove over a bumpy bit of ice. "We all knew Chris wasn't gonna let this be too easy. Just keep your eye on the GPS, we'll get there."

The nerd nodded at his crush, pointing out the direction for Courtney to continue down. Meanwhile, Izzy dangerously balanced her cattle prod on the tip of her finger, getting a worried look from DJ in the process.

"Izzy, you gotta be careful with that thing," the brickhouse pleaded. "You're gonna get one of us hurt."

"No worries, big guy. Izzy always has everything under control." As if on cue, right after saying as much Izzy fumbled her cattle prod, accidentally turning it on in the process and almost allowing it to come shocking down on Cody's head. Thankfully for the geek, she regained hold of it at the last moment and smiled. "See? No problemo!"

Cody and Trent exchanged an uncertain look, trying to keep the near electrocution out of mind. In front of them Beth had been looking back to observe the scene. When she turned around, she noticed another sign of life quickly approaching the snowmobile. A small adorable seal, spotted like a leopard.

"Aww, look at the little seal," Beth cooed, reaching her hand out to pet the animal as they drove by. However once they were close enough, the seal leaped at her hand, munching down with deceptively sharp teeth. Beth's yell of shock and pain distracted the others long enough for an entire platoon of seals to pop up out of seemingly nowhere, all launching themselves at Team Old School with teeth at the ready. There were varying degrees of distress being expressed by the team, with the exception of Izzy who found the spectacle fun.

"Why are these things so aggressive?" Trent asked, flailing his arm around like a madman to shake off the seal attached.

"Leopard seals are one of the fiercest predators in the continent," Harold explained, ducking in the nick of time to avoid a leaping seal, only for a second seal to latch itself to his head. "I guess these are what we're supposed to use the prods on?"

"We are NOT electrocuting a bunch of cute animals!" DJ was insistent, despite having three different seals attached to his arms. Since he had stood up to make this retort, a fourth seal took the opportunity to latch its teeth to his posterior, prompting the largest scream from the cast yet. To her credit, Courtney was doing the best she could to drive away from the madness, trying to ignore the pain from the two seals biting down on her.

"Hopefully this at least means the other teams are having a hard time with the wildlife too," Cody suggested hopefully, notably covering his crotch for protection as more seals zeroed in on them.

A cut back to Team Radioactive proved that indeed they were having animal troubles of our own. Though in their case rather than seals, they were dealing with being at a full stop while a seemingly endless horde of penguins waddled across the ice in front of them.

"Where is the dang horn on this thing?" Scott asked, pushing down on the wheel in vain despite it producing no sound. "Come on, let's move it along already!"

"Have patience," Dawn suggested, gently stroking the head of a penguin before it walked off happily. "These beautiful creatures are merely trying to reach their destination together. If we disturb them with yelling and honking that would only make them take longer."

Anne Maria tapped her fingers along the side of the snowmobile, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, well patience ain't exactly what we got when we're in the middle of a race. Yo, Dakota? Think you could turn all huge and just carry us over the penguins?"

Dakota sheepishly looked away. "Well I'm not really angry right now, so I wouldn't be able to turn into Dakotazoid. But even still, I get kinda out of control when I turn into it, I wouldn't want to accidentally hurt one of the penguins in the process."

Lightning suddenly seemed to be hit with inspiration, jumping from out of his seat. "Sha-forget that noise anyway, Lightning can carry this thing himself. Everybody out and let Lightning do his stuff."

Since there was nothing else they could really do anyway, his teammates went along with it and got off. Lightning rubbed his hands together, reached down, grabbed the snowmobile... then proceeded to huff as he merely lifted one wheel of the device a bit off the ice. He strained as he did his best to get the job done, but he clearly couldn't fully lift the large vehicle on his own.

Eventually, Brick decided to jump into the fray. Getting on the side opposite of Lightning, he lifted at the same time, causing the back half of the vehicle to be lifted successfully. Lightning seemed conflicted, both annoyed and glad to see it up. "Hmph, that only worked because Lightning loosened it up for you."

Brick merely grinned, looking over at his teammates. "A few more hands on deck and we should be able to do this, come on soldiers!"

Scott sighed, but played along by taking a spot at the front of the snowmobile. Anne Maria stood on the opposite side, and with their combined lifting the full vehicle was off the ground. Dakota and B also stepped in to give the lift some extra muscle, making it easier on everyone. Meanwhile Dawn worked to make sure the penguins were waddling around their path, that way none of them were in danger of being hurt. Staci tried her best to assist Dawn, though she didn't really do anything while the moonchild did all the work clearing the critters.

***** Confessional: Lightning *****

"Sha-for the record, Lightning could have carried that hunk of metal himself easy. He just couldn't get a good grip out there because the cold made it all slippery. That's all." He folded his arms and puffed out his chest defiantly, fully convincing himself that what he was saying was true.

***** Somewhere in Antarctica *****

Like the other teams, Team Explosive was having their share of animal problems. In this case, a flock of black-browed albatross had taken to flying around their heads, pecking at their faces. Shawn was eventually able to make them disperse, waving his jacket around at them with calls of "Shoo, shoo," until they finally left.

"You'd think the wildlife wouldn't be so aggressive here," the zombie nut noted, putting his jacket back on and getting a tight embrace from his girlfriend to warm him back up. "Birds like that usually stay near the water where their prey is."

"If I had to guess Chris probably has a hand in making them more feisty," Jasmine suggested. "Or maybe they're mechanical like the ones from back at Pahkitew?"

"Robot or not, they're disgusting," Dave complained from his seat, trying to focus on the GPS' rerouted directions to take his mind off the gross birds. "Now lets see, if we keep right that should eventually get us back on path and it'll be a straight shot to the-" He paused, as a new symbol popped up on the GPS. A red circle showing a monstrous face within. "What the heck?"

"Something wrong?" Sammy asked curiously.

"Some weird symbol just popped up on the GPS. No idea what it means, though."

Immediately on cue to answer the confusion, a loud roar echoed from over the horizon. With a glance down at the device, Dave could confirm that the direction the sound had come from was the same direction as the symbol.

"Right, so, we're gonna want to avoid whatever that is," the germaphobe said in a panicked tone. "Go left."

Sammy nodded and quickly changed directions. But soon after she did so, a new roar echoed from nearby, this one towards the new direction. Many looked over Dave's shoulder as another one of the monster symbols popped up on the GPS... and then another one. And another one. Soon, they were practically surrounded by the symbols, and a chorus and terrible noises circled around Team Explosive.

"That can't be good," Rodney said to voice the obvious as the team looked around in concern and fear.

Elsewhere, Anne Maria raised an eyebrow and looked back. Her team had since successfully carried their snowmobile past the horde of penguins and were back on track to driving to their destination. However, the distant sound of a roar concerned her. "Hey, did any of you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Dakota asked, though before the Jersey girl could answer they were interrupted by the team's navigator.

"That's strange, something on the GPS just popped up." Dawn's observation got her team's attention, the driver included.

"Wadda ya mean popped up?" Scott asked curiously. "This something I should be avoiding?"

One of the loud monstrous roars echoed from ahead, startling most of Team Radioactive. Brick in particular shook like a leaf as he peered from behind the seat in front of him cautiously.

"I'm gonna say that's a yes." The cadet peered over at Dawn. "What's the best way for us to go to avoid that thing?"

Suddenly a white furry paw came crashing down on the snowmobile, stopping it dead in its tracks. Multiple figures then quickly surrounded the vehicle. The GPS was now beeping rapidly to signify the snowmobile was surrounded, though it was obviously too late.

One of the beasts roared, finally giving a good look at them. They were big ape like creatures, bearing a striking resemblance to Sasquatchanakwa. Though they had white fur rather than the usual purple. When the camera pulled back it showed that this particular beast wasn't roaring at Team Explosive, but instead Team Old School who were all screaming in fear. Courtney did her best to maneuver around the imposing beast, but more of them seemed to be popping up left and right.

"Man, those yetis sure are angry," Chris said from the safety of the helicopter while observing the carnage below. "Wouldn't want to be those kids right now."

"Aren't those things just pissed because you imported them from their home in Siberia?" Chef shot back while piloting the helicopter, not seeing the annoyed glare Chris gave in response. "And why are there so dang many of them anyway?"

The host shrugged innocently. "What can I say, things must get boring when you live in an icy wasteland. Guess they have the rabbit mentality of what to do to pass the time."

Back with Team Old School, it was becoming harder and harder to avoid the wrath of the yetis. For the time being, Courtney had given up trying to listen to any of Harold's directions since the current objective was simply to survive. Her driving proved competent, but they were up against a significant number.

As the rest of the team went through varying degrees of panic, baring Izzy who seemed to be living for this insanity, Cody was suddenly hit with a realization. "Ok, so THIS is definitely what those cattle prods are going to come in handy for." He glanced at DJ, who had just cowered away from the paw swipe of a yeti. "Do you have anything against us using them on these things too?"

"I mean, I'd definitely prefer NOT to," the brickhouse answered, yelping as another yeti roared as they drove by. "But I care more about us not dying right now, so I got no objections."

Since no one else on the team was opposed to using their part one advantage, everyone other than Courtney wielded their cattle prods and swung back at the aggressive beasts. Leshawna was the first to land a successful blow, shocking one of the yetis in the gut and making it keel over in the process. Trent landed a blow on another's leg, causing the furry beast to trip in pain. Beth very nearly hit one of the males in the groin, which was enough to make it guard itself and jump back from fear alone.

"It's working!" Trent grinned as he fended back yet another approaching yeti with a well placed bop on the head. "They can't touch us as long as we have these!"

No one seemed to be having more fun with their fight against the yetis than Izzy, who had been wailing her prod around like a madwoman. Seeing another one of the creatures approaching from her side of the snowmobile, she grinned and positioned her weapon like a baseball bat. "Izzy's going for style points on this one! Baaaaaatter up!"

Izzy swung with all her might as if she were going for a homerun and the yeti was a particularly large and furry ball. However, the beast thought quickly and ducked out of the way midswing. Then in what felt like the blink of an eye it chomped down on the shaft of the prod, breaking it into pieces.

***** Confessional: Izzy *****

"Alright, did NOT see that one coming," she said with a rare somewhat serious and surprised look. This then quickly reverted back to her usual smiling self. "Maybe I should have gone for something like a golf swing instead? Oh, no no, I could have used it like a cricket bat! Next time, Izzy, next time."

***** Somewhere in Antarctica *****

The remaining members of Team Old School were taken by surprise seeing Izzy's cattle prod be demolished like it was nothing. Unfortunately for them, the quick distraction was all the other yetis needed to make their move. One by one, they all targeted the other member's weapons. Some merely had to yank it from their hand, like with Harold and Beth. Others also resorted to the biting the shaft tactic for those with a tighter grip like Leshawna. Once it was said and done, all seven of the non drivers had lost their cattle prods one way or another.

"Ok, so uh... now what?" Cody asked when he was the last to have his prod disposed of.

All eyes turned to Courtney, who looked back and steeled herself. "We get the heck out of here as quick as possible."

With another rev of the snowmobile, Courtney kept as focused as she could while continuing to swerve around the aggressive yetis. Their line of defense was gone, but they seemed to be leaving the area where the yetis were running rampant. The same couldn't be said for Team Explosive, who were having a hell of a time trying to avoid the yeti onslaught. Being a less experienced driver than someone like Courtney, Sammy wasn't maneuvering the vehicle with as much calm finesse. Her steering made the others sway wildly from side to side, and the navigator wasn't much help since Dave had essentially turned into a cowering ball of panic that was guarding his face with one hand and keeping himself from falling out of the vehicle with the other.

Beardo had taken to providing a panicked mayday alarm sound effect, while Amy glared at her sister from the back. "Sparemey, are you TRYING to get us killed? I always knew you were a bad driver, but this really takes the cake."

"This is SO not the time for this, Amy," her twin spat back, keeping her eyes on the lack of road and trying her best to keep composed. Which is to say, she wasn't very composed at all.

Meanwhile, Shawn and Jasmine had taken it upon themselves to do their best to protect the snowmobile. Jasmine's long limbs made it possible to push and shove the beasts out of the way from a somewhat safe distance, while Shawn was using more unconventional means like tossing sand he had in one pocket for some reason right into a yeti's eyes. They were fending them off well enough, but between the erratic driving and the yeti's sizable numbers, it was clear that they'd eventually be overwhelmed.

"Darn it, if only we had won those cattle prods," the zombie nut lamented, chopping one of the yetis in the neck at the last minute before it came chomping down on Rodney. "We gotta find a way to get them off our tail for good."

Rubbing her chin in thought, Sugar was suddenly hit with an idea. "I might be able to cook up enough gas to get them varmints away from us polecat style!" She jutted her butt towards the oncoming yetis to prove her point, though for now she held her fire.

"Ew, and knock all of us out in the process?" Dave looked back in sheer disgust. "No way!"

"Actually, it's not the worst idea," Jasmine admitted, though the look on her face made it seem that she didn't enjoy saying as much. "If it works for skunks, it may just be the way to get these things off our tail."

"You're actually humoring this?"

While a debate began breaking out over the validity of Sugar's fart plan, another contestant took notice of the now more rapidly approaching yetis. With people distracted by the argument, they were going to close in fast. Action had to be taken, even if they were scared. Taking a deep breath, they ducked down and covered their mouth.

Suddenly, a loud and horrific screech echoed around the group. The yetis screeched to a halt, looking around in confusion at the sound. When it happened again, it was more identifiable to the others as the sound Godzilla's roar made. Though to the yetis it actually sounded like some other large predator was approaching from out of nowhere. This was made even more realistic when what sounded like giant footsteps echoed around them, mixed with the roars. Looking panicked, one last roar sent the yetis running as far away from the noises as they could get.

When it was all said and done, the yetis were cleared out, and Team Explosive looked on at Beardo who had only just stopped the noises once the coast was clear.

"Whoa..." Rodney whispered, surprise in his tone visible.

"Dude." Shawn grinned, patting Beardo on the back. "That was awesome!"

"Way to think on your feet, mate," Jasmine agreed with a nod. "That really got us out of a jam there."

The team all murmured agreeing sentiments, even Sugar despite her being disappointed that her unique method was no longer needed. Beardo, meanwhile, went from looking nervous at how his team would react to shock at the praise.

***** Confessional: Beardo *****

"I... actually contributed," he whispered in his first non singing line of the season, looking at the camera with that same shocked expression. That shock quickly turned to glee as he pumped his arm and made a cha ching cash register sound effect for emphasis. "Heck yeah! First step to turning things around for me this season. Next step... actually having a conversation with one of these guys without the sound effects."

***** Somewhere in Antarctica *****

Team Radioactive were giving a mix of screams and cries as the yeti horde honed in on them. Everyone was doing the best they could to break through, be it through muscle like with Lightning, or be it spraying them in the eyes with hairspray like Anne Maria. However, the efforts weren't enough, and Scott wasn't able to budge the snowmobile since the mass of hair and teeth had effectively brought them to a halt.

"Can't you talk to these things or something?" Scott asked desperately, looking over at Dawn with wide eyes. "These things count as animals, don't they?"

"I can try," the mystic responded, trying her best to stay calm in the increasingly frightening situation. "I sense that they're angry due to being forced far away from their home, so perhaps reasoning with them based on that will help."

One of the yetis was holding the front of the snowmobile, ensuring that the contestants could go nowhere. Dawn leaned forward, talking in a soothing tone. "Excuse me, Mr. Yeti? We're very sorry that awful man has taken you so far away from your home. I'm sure they'll have to return you all as soon as this challenge is over. If you could please let us go, we'll try to have it finished as soon as possible."

The creature titled his head, surprised by the girl's calming voice and pleasant smile. It seemed like it was beginning to smile in understanding... only to growl twice as loud in Dawn's face, shocking her back into her seat before it could bite her.

"It was a valiant effort, soldier," Brick offered, Dawn still reeling from the yeti not even flinching at her kindness. "Though that being said, looks like we're dead."

Indeed, the yetis had caused such a blockade that everyone had to bunch together to avoid being mauled.

"This is so unfair, I can't die yet." Staci sobbed as she hung to B's arm from desperate fear. "I was going to become a cook, just like my great great great great-"

As B's expression turned from one worried about the yetis to one annoyed at Staci, Lightning's hand covered the liar's mouth. "The Lightning is NOT in the mood to hear chatty girls blabbing right now."

Seemingly in slow motion, one of the yetis began reaching for Anne Maria. Dakota watched next to her, shaking from the panic. Was this really it? It would all end by being mauled to death on some stupid TV show in the middle of Antarctica? But then she realized something. If she ended up mauled, how sad would her daddy be? The rest of her family? How sad would Sam be? And it would all be Chris' fault too. Thinking this over, her fear turned to annoyance. And the annoyance turned to anger. And with the anger began a transformation.

"You... guys... need... to... back... OFF!"

Suddenly, the dogpile of yetis was sent scattering away, many being knocked a good distance and suffering from unfortunate landing positions. When the pile was cleared, out emerged a new hulking figure. Dakota had increased in size significantly, and spikes jutted out from her shoulders and elbows. Her skin turned into a dark orange while her hair became a radioactive waste-like green. Heck, even a tail had sprouted. She had gone full Dakotazoid, though her jumpsuit lived up to its purpose and still fit her perfectly with no rips.

The yetis were understandably dumbfounded at the sudden emergence of a new foe. Unfortunately for them, Dakotazoid wasn't waiting around for them to better understand. She grabbed the nearest beast by the feet and tossed him into a group of others, knocking them down like bowling pins. She punched, kicked, slashed, and threw her way out of the chaos, until eventually a single cowering yeti was left standing. Desperately inching away as Dakotazoid approached, he flinched when she got in his face, but opened an eye when nothing happened.

"Boo." The mutant grinned as the final yeti screamed and ran away in fear. Team Radioactive erupted into cheers and praises for Dakotazoid saving the day. The overwhelming positivity was enough to bring Dakota out of her angry state and shrink back down to normal size.

Eventually she had reverted to the relatively normal state she entered the season as, with Anne Maria being the first to congratulate her. "Dang, you really showed those fuzzballs what's what."

"Oh it was nothing," Dakota replied, blushing at the praise. "I'm kind of embarrassed you guys had to see me become Dakotazoid so seen, honestly."

"Nothing to be ashamed of, we'd have been yeti food without your help." Brick saluted his teammate. "I'm sure we all appreciate the assistance."

As it turned out, Dawn was the only team member that didn't seem entirely stoked by what had happened. She glanced over at Scott, who had been caught up on the commending Dakota train. "Shouldn't we be getting back to driving?"

Scott shook himself back into the game and fired up the snowmobile once again.

***** Confessional: Dawn *****

"I don't entirely agree with Dakota's methods of getting us to safety. Of course, we did need out of the situation, but did she have to be so violent towards those creatures? Then again, one of them nearly bit my head off so I suppose it couldn't be helped."

***** N** **ear the South Pole *****

Team Radioactive continued their pursuit to the end, Dawn doing her best to guide Scott on the fastest route. Soon they found themselves going up a particularly tall ice cap, where the South Pole was supposed to be on the other side. The farmer was grinning in determination as he drove, only to have his concentration broke when he heard a certain voice.

"Oh great, what are THEY doing here too?"

Scott looked to his left to see the voice's source. Courtney, driving the snowmobile for her own team, now neck and neck with them.

"Looks like somehow we've all met back up again."

Both teams looked to the right, the new voice coming from Sammy who now had Team Explosive's snowmobile neck and neck with the others as well. All three teams reached the top of the ice cap, and below they could see Chris standing next to a metal pole. A sign behind it even listed "Geographic South Pole," to confirm this was their finish line. On both sides of the pole were a marker where one of their team flags could be planted.

"Wow, hey, all three teams are in the final stretch at the same time! What are the odds?" Chris laughed, his voice being heard by everyone thanks to his megaphone. "This should be easy enough, first two team flags that get planted next to the South Pole means those teams are safe. The team that comes up short is sending someone packing. First team to do it gets first class, so lets see some hustle, people!"

The three teams all looked from the competition to the pole. It was anyone's game now, with no time to lose. Revving up his snowmobile, Scott took the early lead with Courtney and Sammy hot on his tail.

"Ha, see you guys at the finish line!"

Unfortunately for Scott, his taunting would be his undoing. Courtney grit her teeth, now aiming for Team Radioactive's snowmobile rather than the straight shot to the end. She rammed into the back of their vehicle, shocking the enemy team.

"Sha-watch where you're driving!" Lightning shook a fist at Team Old School, only for Courtney to ram into them again. She eventually found herself next to Team Radioactive, and proceeded to swerve into them, sending them both off course.

"What in tarnation are they doing?" Sugar asked, puzzled as Team Explosive looked on at the other two teams going away from the path to the pole.

"Whatever it is, it's good news for us," Shawn answered, pointing ahead to the south pole. "Everyone lean forward!"

The team did as he had instructed. Since they had some of the heaviest members of the cast on the team, it helped propel them forward all the more quick. Thanks to the other two teams being distracted, they reached the bottom of the ice cap and made it to the south pole with relative ease. They all jumped off the snowmobile, and Rodney retrieved their team flag from the back. He planted Team Explosive's flag proudly into one of the markers, getting cheers from everyone.

"And Team Explosive cruises into a win," Chris announced, cheers continuing among the victors. Beardo even did a perfect recreation of the Final Fantasy victory jingle once he realized he wouldn't be first one out again. "Congrats, guys, first class is yours."

Meanwhile, Teams Old School and Radioactive were still swerving wildly all over the place, with Scott and Courtney butting heads as neither was able to get away from the other. The rest of their teams all looked on with wide eyes, unable to do much to stop the scuffle.

"Team Explosive won the challenge, guys," Chris announced via megaphone, getting everyone's attention. "Now it's a race for not last!"

Courtney had finally been shaken from her rage at the announcement. Grunting in frustration, she glared over at Scott. "We are NOT losing to him!"

Then it hit her. Looking down next to her, she saw something she had forgot about. Her cattle prod. Since she was driving, she didn't use hers during the yeti attacks. Everyone else had their's destroyed, but her's was still intact. With one hand on the wheel, she grabbed it with the other and grinned devilishly.

"Lean back, Harold," she warned. "I'm going to get us to safety."

A bit confused, Harold looked over at the other team, then at Courtney's cattle prod. He went wide eyed, gasping in realization. "You're not really going to use that on him, are you?"

"I said lean back!" Momentarily letting go of the wheel, Courtney used one arm to push Harold back into his seat. Then with the other, she used pinpoint precision to jab Scott in the side with her cattle prod. As expected, the sudden jolt of electricity caused the dirt farmer pain and made him wildly spin out his team's snowmobile. Courtney's teammates were shocked, but there wasn't any arguing to be done as she was finally able to let them pull ahead.

Eventually they made it to the south pole, with DJ doing the honors of planting their flag in the other marker. Chris blew his air horn, signaling the end of the challenge. "And with that, Team Old School secures their safety. No first class, but they won't be sending someone home today. Unfortunately for Team Radioactive, the same can't be said for them."

Nearby, Team Radioactive groaned. Both from the loss, but also recovering from the dizziness caused by the spin out. Scott in particularly was looking rough after suffering the blow from the cattle prod.

***** Confessional: Courtney *****

The former CIT looked on at the camera, with what looked like remorse in her eyes. "Do I feel bad for being the one to cost Scott and his team the win, probably sending him packing in the process?" There was a short pause, only for the seemingly remorseful look to turn into one of indifference. She shrugged innocently. "Eh, not really."

***** On the Jumbo Jet *****

The teams had finally returned to the less chilly climate of the jet. Team Old School took their place in economy class, regrouping after avoiding elimination but also failing to win. Much of Team Explosive went straight for their well earned first class experience, though Shawn, Jasmine, and Sammy chose to do one of Shawn's zombie checks in the cargo area. Had they not lost Dawn, B, and Brick would have joined them, but for now everyone on Team Radioactive had gathered in the dining area. Unsurprisingly, a lot of nasty looks were being sent Scott's way.

"Ok, I know what happened out there looked bad, but it wasn't my fault!" Scott pleaded with his teammates, knowing fully well he was being sized up for the chopping block. "Courtney was the one who started that, I had nothing to do with it!"

"Maybe she wouldn't had done it if you hadn't opened your yap and gloated," Anne Maria pointed out, glaring at the devious former villain.

"And even if you couldn't help it, if that's how Courtney is going to keep reacting with you around it makes you a liability," Dakota added, arms crossed. "It's not like we can really trust you after season 4 anyway."

"That was years ago," Scott yelled, flabbergasted. "I've changed! Did I not help us almost win part 1? Didn't I do a perfectly fine job driving us to the end before Courtney went crazy on us?"

"And just who do you think should go home if it ain't you, hm?" Anne Maria challenged, eyebrow raised. It was then that a gurgle was heard from Staci's stomach. She blushed and smiled innocently.

"Whoops, I'll be right back!" She ran off, heading for the toilet. "When I get back I'll let you know about my great great aunt Harper that invented the toilet!"

Once the compulsive liar had left the room and was out of earshot, Scott motioned his arms the way she had went. "Well, her. She didn't do anything to help today and hasn't really done anything but annoy us with her lies. Unlike me, she really HASN'T changed since our first season.

Dakota rolled her eyes, beginning to storm off. "Convenient that you waited to throw her under the bus AFTER she left the room. Somehow I doubt that you've really changed at all."

Anne Maria followed after her, a similar disgusted expression in her eyes. The others began to follow before Scott ran in front and stopped them.

"Come on guys, have a heart!" He looked at all of them pleadingly, cupping his hands in a begging motion. "Do you not believe in second chances and junk? I busted my butt out there to be a 'team player' today, the least you guys could do is give me a chance."

Dawn and B exchanged a look of uncertainty. Brick rubbed the back of his head, looking on awkwardly in thought. Lightning just crossed his arms, unimpressed with the whole thing. Eventually an announcement came from over the intercom, courtesy of Chris.

"Voting time, Team Radioactive! Make your way to the confessional one at a time and stamp the passport of who you want gone, then report to the elimination area. Time for our first elimination of the season!"

***** In the Elimination Area *****

The eight members of Team Radioactive shuffled into the bleachers of the elimination area. Chris stood at his podium, holding a plate of seven peanut filled barf bags. Chef stood nearby, holding a parachute that would inevitably go to the loser.

"The results of the vote are in," Chris declared, holding up the eight stamped passports while not yet revealing their results within. "When I call you name, you're safe and you get a nice barfy symbol of immunity." He held up one of the barf bags to prove the point. "So with that all said, the first one safe is Dakota since she pretty much saved you all from being maimed."

Dakota smiled, gladly catching her barf bag of immunity.

"Lightning and Brick, you guys are obviously safe since your muscle came in handy. Dawn is safe since her animal talking helped out with some penguins."

The three all caught their respective bags with varying degrees of gratitude and confidence.

"B's ingenuity against the singing handicap nets him safety. Aaaand, Anne Maria did some useful things with that hair spray, so she's in the clear," Chris finished, tossing the penultimate barf bags to the silent genius and Jersey girl. He merely accepted it with a glad nod, while she had a smug smirk while glancing down at Scott. Scott was wide eyed and shaking, not confident in his chances of stay. Staci didn't look much better since she was well aware this was her fate the last time she had played the game.

"Scott, you're here because your team doesn't know if they can trust you. Also your baggage with Courtney is already starting to bite you in the butt." The host chuckled, relishing in the farmer's distress. "Staci, you're here because you're still as annoying and chatty as you were last time."

The bottom two exchanged nervous looks, then stared on at the final peanut filled barf bag in Chris' hand.

"Only one of you gets to stay for a second chance, and that person is...

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... Scott!"

At first Scott gasped, not reacting as the peanut bag hit him in the face and fell to the floor. But after the realization hit, he took a big sigh of relief, wiping the sweat away from his forehead. Anne Maria and Dakota looked especially annoyed at the outcome, while Staci just frowned in disappointment.

"Aw man, first one out again?" Staci hung her head in shame, accepting the parachute as Chef pushed it into her arms. "Well, guess it's the drop of shame for me."

"Kinda, but not quite." Chris grinned, leading Staci over to the now open hatch. "It's a new season after all, we have to shake up the elimination method somehow!"

"How do you shake up falling out of a-" Staci was cut off as an over-sized boot came swinging down from the ceiling, hitting her straight in the face. The blow hit her out of the hatch, sending her outside as her scream echoed.

"Glad you asked! We call it the Boot of Shame, ya never know when it'll kick you out once you're eliminated, ya just know it's coming." Chris looked back at the remaining members of Team Radioactive, all of whom seemed less than impressed. "What? There's only so much you can do to shake up being pushed out of a plane. Now get outta here before one of you join Staci."

As the team filed out, outside of the plane Staci clung to the wing in an all too familiar sight despite having her parachute on. "I changed my mind, I don't wanna go home yet! I gotta stay in the game, otherwise it would disappoint my great great-"

Once again Staci was interrupted when the wing of the plane momentarily became electrified. The sudden shock made her release her grip, causing her to plummet to the ground below. Chris watched this all from the plane, smiling as he watched Staci fall.

"Yeah, we are NOT having another Ezekiel situation this season. We came prepared this time." He laughed in satisfaction, giving the camera his trademark grin. "And with that, we have our first elimination! Can Scott win the trust of his teammates? Can him and Courtney sort out this dirty laundry of their's? Will Shawn ever actually find a zombie in the cargo hold? And who will be the next to taste the Boot of Shame? At least one of these questions answered right here, next time on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

**Voting Confessionals:**

Anne Maria stamped Scott's passport with no hesitation. "Is chatterbox kind of annoying? Yeah, but she ain't no sleazeball like Scotty boy. I can't trust that guy as far as I can throw him, so he can take a hike for all I care.

B hovered his stamp right above Scott's passport. He grit his teeth, his arm shaking as he nearly made the vote. Eventually he sighed, turning to instead stamp Staci's passport. He then held up Scott's passport and used two fingers to point to his eyes then the camera in an 'I'm watching you' motion.

"I've always been a strong believer in second chances, and if I'm being honest Scott was a stand up teammate in this challenge. If he really has turned over a new leaf, then I support him entirely." Brick stamped Staci's passport. "Sorry soldier, it's nothing personal."

Dakota frowned as she stamped Scott's passport. "They should have brought back Sam instead of you. I'm not going to let myself get angry over it, since that would be kinda bad for the plane, but seriously. Who asked for more Scott?"

"I'm just as surprised as anyone that I'm actually saying this, but... I do want to give Scott a chance to prove he's redeemed himself. I sense a genuine change in his aura from the last time we met. Granted, there's still plenty of negative aspects to it that I sense, but the change is definitely there." Dawn stamped Staci's passport without even looking at it. "I sense nothing but pain for Staci if she were to stay in the game, so this is for the best anyway."

Lightning tossed the stamp in the air and caught it in a cool gesture. "Lightning don't care about all this 'another chance' crap, he just cares who's a better teammate. Smelly boy did just fine today, blabby girl did nothing." He stamped Staci's passport a few times. "Some of these chumps are mad that Scott eliminated them back in season 4, but you know who he didn't eliminate? Sha-Lightning!"

"Look, this isn't anything personal or something like that, eliminating Staci is just my best bet for staying in the game." Scott stamped Staci's passport. "Let's just hope these guys aren't THAT serious about holding a grudge. Like seriously, that season was ages ago, haven't I paid for it enough already?"

"I don't really like Scott and Anne Maria told me we needed to vote him out so I'm all for it." Staci stamped Scott's passport happily, then looked over the stamp curiously. "Oh, did you know the inventor of the stamp was actually my great great great great uncle Duane? Yah, before him people had nothing nice to put on their letters, it was so sad."

Votes for Staci: 5 (B, Brick, Dawn, Lightning, Scott)

Votes for Scott: 3 (Anne Maria, Dakota, Staci)

**After the Boot of Shame:**

Staci struggle to make sure her parachute was safely secured, but eventually pulled it off. Somehow there was a camera following her as she made her descent, and she wasted no time deploying the parachute to ensure that she wouldn't splat on to the Antarctic ice below.

"I can't believe I'm the first one out again! I thought I was gonna go all the way to the end this time." Looking up at her parachute, she sighed. "Maybe I should have been more ambitious like my great great great second cousin Francois. He invented the parachute, you know. Before him if someone fell out of an airplane they would just hit the ground and die. Yah, he was pretty important."

Staci eventually made it to the ground... right in the middle of one of the yeti packs. All of the beasts turned their heads to her, growling and showing their teeth as they recognized her from the group that had that mutant who beat them up.

"U-um, would you nice yetis like to hear some stories about my ancestors?" She chuckled nervously, turning into a scream when the yetis pounced towards her before the camera shut off.

**Remaining Contestants:**

Team Old School: Beth, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Harold, Izzy, Leshawna, Trent

Team Radioactive: Anne Maria, B, Brick, Dakota, Dawn, Lightning, Scott

Team Explosive: Amy, Beardo, Dave, Jasmine, Rodney, Sammy, Shawn, Sugar

**Elimination Order:**

24th: Staci

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in the process of porting over this, and soon enough my other stories from Fanfiction dot net. Bare with me as I get the hang of properly utilizing this website. I'll be trying to space out when I port over my other stories as I don't want to come across as spamming. The remaining two finished chapters for this story should be moved over in a few hours as well.


	3. The Luck of the Irish

"Previously on Battle of the Generations," Chris introduced, standing in the Jumbo Jet's elimination area. "Our three teams competed in their first challenge, going head to head to head in a race to the south pole. They had a bumpy ride along the way, dealing with dynamite, leopard seals, and an angry pack of yetis. In the final stretch of the race Courtney and Scott began to butt heads, giving Team Explosive an easy pass to win the challenge. Courtney gave Scott a cattle prod to the side, securing safety for her team in the process. Things looked bleak for the farmer with his team up for elimination, but he was able to convince enough people to give him a second chance. And so it was Staci that once again became the first one eliminated. Can Team Radioactive bounce back from their loss? Where will the Jumbo Jet be taking these losers next? And who will be the next to get literally kicked off the plane? All that and more, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

***** Opening Credits *****

Business picked up immediately where it left off following Staci's elimination. Team Radioactive was piling out of the elimination ceremony, Anne Maria and Dakota at the front still looking annoyed at the vote result. Scott trailed behind at the back of the line behind Dawn and B. He stared on awkwardly, still feeling a mix of shock and relief at staying. He had a feeling Brick would be convinced by his pleading to stay, and figured Lightning wanted Staci out anyway, but since there was no tie Dawn and B both had to have voted to keep him. And honestly, he hadn't been confident that it would happen.

"Hey, uh, you two." Scott finally said, getting the mystic and silent genius to stop for a moment. "I just wanted to say..." He stopped, clearing his throat. The farmer took a few attempts at trying to speak but struggled, almost as if what he was trying to say was painful and difficult. Dawn and B watched him curiously, with Scott's stuttering eventually turning to hacking and coughing. Finally he punched himself in the gut which seemed to do the trick. "THANKS... for, you know, not voting me out and junk."

B narrowed his eyes, not sure if he should take that display as genuine or overacting. Dawn, meanwhile, smiled and nodded. "You're welcome. Though don't think this means we've forgotten how you were back on Revenge of the Island. B took a lot of convincing to give you another chance, so I would hope you don't make us regret it."

After a nod in agreement, B did the 'I'm watching you' finger sign to Scott. He chuckled nervously in response.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Eventually the trio made it to economy class where the rest of their team were already lingering around. Team Old School were also there, and a friendly conversation had broken out among the group of Harold, Leshawna, Trent, and Cody. Izzy was giggling to herself, looking through the overhead cargo area while everyone else just sat around. When Brick noticed his teammates arrive, he jogged up to them.

"There you guys are! Now that the ceremony is over I'm gonna head on over to the cargo to help out those Team Explosive guys with their zombie search. Gotta hold up our end of the deal, after all. See you guys there." With his reminder said, Brick headed for the cargo, Scott looking perplexed as he left.

"Zombies?"

Dawn giggled, motioning for the former villain to follow them. "You know, if you want to prove that you really are all for helping us this season, perhaps you could join B and I with this. After all, the searches will be faster with the more people we have helping."

B nodded, walking off in the same way Brick had left. Dawn followed, and while he still looked confused about the situation, Scott shrugged and reluctantly joined them. As he left, he didn't notice as he passed Courtney. The former CIT glared, scoffing when he was gone.

"They actually kept him after he lost them the challenge? Guess that team is dumber than I thought." Rolling her eyes, she eyed the rest of the occupants. Lightning was doing pushups, while Dakota and Anne Maria chatted about fashion nearby. The other members of that team had left, though to where Courtney had no idea. It was after noticing the large group convo between the boys and Leshawna that got Courtney really thinking. She noticed DJ and Beth sitting nearby, so she scooted closer to them.

"Psst. DJ, Beth," Courtney whispered, getting the brickhouse and awkward girl's attention. "Can we talk? Like, more privately in the dinning room?"

DJ and Beth exchanged a look, both surprised and hesitant by the sudden request since they were well aware of Courtney's past on the show. But with nothing better to do and out of curiosity for what she wanted, they both nodded.

***** In the Cafeteria *****

"An alliance?!"

Beth gasped before being shushed by Courtney. The Type A personality glanced back to make sure no one had heard them.

"Keep it down, you don't want others to hear us," Courtney scolded.

"Courtney, we JUST got done with the first challenge," DJ shot back, arms crossed. "And you already want to start a big alliance out of the gate? I thought you didn't want us to think you were the same overly competitive girl that you became in your last few seasons?"

"Well of course I'm going to be competitive, a million bucks is on the line," Courtney pointed out, wincing when she noticed the annoyed glares that got her. "But that's not the point! I'm only suggesting an alliance now because it may be too late later."

"What do you mean?" Beth asked.

"Just think about it, the way our team is laid out puts us at a disadvantage." The Latina counted on her fingers as she listed off names. "Trent, Harold, and Cody. They're all in a big band together. They've spent more time with each other out of season than pretty much anyone else on the show that wasn't in a couple."

"Oh yeah, didn't the Drama Brothers get back together after All Stars ended?" DJ asked. "I think they even put out a new album last year."

"Ohmygosh yes!" Beth squeed, jumping up and down. "It was so good! Trent has this solo part on the first track that'll just melt your he-"

Annoyed, Courtney loudly cleared her throat to interrupt Beth's gushing. The farm girl smiled sheepishly in response. "Heh, you were saying?"

"My point, is having those three here together on a team is bad news for the rest of us," Courtney continued. "They might not be an official alliance but they may as well be since they'll definitely be talking and thus voting together. It gets even worse when you add Leshawna to the mix. Harold is going to be around her constantly, so it's highly likely she'll vote the same way as them. And if she does, that's half of the team right there."

DJ and Beth blinked in surprise, not having considered any of this. But thinking it over, Courtney raised a good point. The brickhouse whistled. "Dang, I never thought about it that way."

Hiding the smug satisfaction she felt at being proven right, Courtney continued. "So if we vote together and get Izzy in the mix, we should be able to even the odds. Best case scenario Leshawna doesn't vote with them and we'll ensure we're not overwhelmed by the numbers. Worst case scenario it goes to a tiebreaker and we at least have a fair shot at winning that."

The friendlier two pondered the proposal, not fully convinced but unable to deny the logic in Courtney's reasoning. Still, agreeing to an alliance this early was a risky move, and was it truly that much of a guarantee that the other half of the team would be voting together?

"Let us think on it for a bit," Beth suggested, DJ nodding in agreement. "After all, hopefully we won't even have to vote someone off for a while if we keep things up in challenges."

Courtney sighed, disappointed that there was no deal yet but accepting that her reputation probably played a part in to that. At least they didn't say no. "Fair enough. But please really do think it over. If one of us is the first one on the team out, the rest will just be sitting ducks to the Drama Brothers and Leshawna."

***** Cockpit Confessional: Beth *****

"As much as I hate to admit it, Courtney brought up some really good points," the farmer noted, Chef doing his pilot thing in the background. "Teaming up with her and DJ really might be the best plan. But while I have no problems with DJ, can you blame me for being hesitant toward Courtney? The last time I played was in Total Drama Action, and we weren't exactly buddies that season."

"No kidding," Chef added. "She probably got under your skin that season worse than Heather did!"

"And that's really saying something!" Beth huffed, crossing her arms. "She may have a point, but it's gonna take time for me to trust her."

***** In First Class *****

Dave sighed in satisfaction as he leaned back in his comfy chair. Nearby Beardo was at the bar, pouring a nice glass of sparkling apple juice and enjoying a slice of cake. Shawn, Jasmine, and Sammy however were nowhere to be seen as they were busy zombie checking the cargo area. By now they had been joined by members of Team Radioactive, having given a rundown to a still very confused and annoyed Scott. Finally, Sugar watched on in amusement as Rodney knelled next to Amy.

"Could you, like, make yourself useful and go get me something to drink," the mean twin commanded, looking Rodney in the eyes. The large farmer seemed too entranced and smitten to have even registered the insult.

"Yes ma'am!"

Once Rodney jogged off to grab Amy a drink, Sugar took the opportunity to approach the cheerleader. Not waiting for a response, Sugar slid by and plopped down into the seat next to her.

"Howdy!" The country girl flashed a toothy grin Amy's way, making her recoil in disgust.

"Can I help you?" Amy said, her voice dripping in condescending annoyance. "I'm trying to relax over here."

"I can see that." Sugar glanced back at Rodney, who was pouring a glass of tea for Amy while Beardo provided the sound of a gushing waterfall nearby to go with the pouring. "Big guy over there is already wrapped around yer finger, ain't he?"

Raising an eyebrow, Amy rolled her eyes and tried to keep it nonchalant. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Rodney is just being nice. He's not being manipulated at all!"

***** Confessional: Rodney *****

"I'm so excited to tell my brothers back home about my new girlfriend!" Rodney grinned proudly, his hulking frame making the already cramped bathroom all the more claustrophobic as his arms reached from wall to wall. "Of course, this means I'll have to dump my girlfriend who works at the gas station back home, we've been dating ever since pops sent me down there for some lighter fluid. Oh well, Amy is way hotter than she is so I'm sure she'll understand!"

***** In First Class *****

Sugar raised an eyebrow, chuckling at Amy's defense. "I didn't say nothin bout manipulating, but thems your words and not mine. Anyhow, I don't care if you're stringing along Rodney or not. Shoot, I think it's plum smart if anything."

"Oh." Amy blinked, not expecting such a compliment out of the country girl. She smirked. "Thanks. I guess it IS pretty clever, isn't it?"

"Sure enough! Actually, I came over here to see if we could strike up some sorta alliance. I know firsthand from last time what goodie two shoes Shawn and Jasmine can be, and they seem to have yer sister on their side. We cooler gals gotta stick together and make sure they don't pick us off, right?"

While Amy was a bit offended by Sugar considering herself and the mean twin to be on the same level of coolness, it was an interesting proposition. "Ugh, right? What is up with those weirdos even giving my dumb sister the time of day? If you want to work together to make sure they're dealt with, it sounds like a good deal to me."

Rodney finally returned with not only Amy's drink but also a slice of cake for her and another for himself. After placing her goodies on the flight tray in front of her, he took notice of the new guest. "Oh, hey Sugar."

"Rodney, ya think you could bring me back some o that cake?" Sugar batted her eyes and struck what she must have imagined was a sexy pose. "I sure would appreciate it."

The farm boy blinked, taking a seat on the other side of Amy. "Well, I mean, can't you get it? It's not that far away, and I wouldn't know how big of a piece you would want any-"

"Just go get it for her," Amy snapped, her gaze instantly taking Rodney back to his love struck obedient state. He shot up and began making his way back to the bar, mumbling gibrish along the way. The mean twin and farm girl exchanged a grin, leaning back in their chairs to further relax.

***** In the Cafeteria *****

A day had passed and it was now morning as everyone piled in for breakfast. The members of Team Explosive all looked well rested and in high spirits. The zombie search had, of course, brought no results. And the addition of Scott to the search made things a bit quicker. But while that team all seemed to be doing well, the same couldn't be said for most of the others. Many of them groaned and lurched over, trying their best to pop their backs into a comfortable position. A sickening crack was heard as Lighting was the first to successfully put his spine back into the proper alignment. Trent followed next, cringing before rubbing his sore back.

"Geez, I knew you guys had it rough sleeping in economy class back in World Tour but I never knew it was THAT bad."

Harold delivered a karate chop to his lower spine, making himself yelp. "You get used to it. Well, as used to it as you CAN get."

While everyone got to work on cracking their backs and rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, Chef began putting plates down in front of everyone. On the plates, alongside some mashed potatoes and rutabagas, was half of a sheep's stomach filled with a strange smelling brown pudding meat inside. The dish emitted a strong odor that prompted some retches and cringes throughout the group.

"Ew, what the heck are you serving us?" Anne Maria scooted the plate away, holding her nose in disgust. "That stuff ain't right."

"It's haggis," Cody observed, cautiously taking a bite from the strange pudding-like substance, easing up when it tasted surprisingly edible. "We had some of this the last time we toured the UK."

"Dude, do you remember how freaked out Justin looked when they brought his plate out?" Trent added, sharing a laugh with his two bandmates. "Oh man, I can't believe he didn't just puke then and there! Wonder if he's gotten any work done on that solo album while we're here?"

Courtney narrowed her eyes at the boys as the conversation unfolded, going unnoticed while she stomached down the Scottish meal. The others also began eating, and while some did still seem grossed out by the taste, and DJ and Dawn flat out refused to eat it, others seemed to be loving it. Shawn was making a steady pace on the meal, while Sugar shoveled it down like it was no one's business. The only one out pacing her was Lightning, who scarfed down the haggis like a machine.

***** Confessional: Lightning *****

"Lightning ain't never heard of this haggis stuff, but he DOES know protein. I got like a sha-seventh sense to tell when something is high in protein, so all Lightning knows is that meal was good in his book!"

***** In the Cafeteria *****

While everyone finished their meals, for some meaning only the mashed potatoes and rutabagas, Chris finally strolled in to join them. Though instead of his usual attire, he had opted for a William Wallace looking getup. Complete with kilt, plaid sash, blue and white facepaint, and a new messy hairdo. He lifted up a fake sword and shield, while Chef stood nearby badly playing the bagpipe. Or perhaps he was playing it well, to the contestants it was a painful loud mess regardless. Most kept their fingers in their ears as they waited for the music to finish, finally stopping as Chris stood atop a table.

"Aye, laddies," the host barked in an offensively bad Scottish accent. "I bet ye can guess where we're going next on our trip!"

"Uh... Scotland?" Dave eventually said to voice the obvious.

"I- wait what?" Chris looked genuinely surprised, narrowing his eyes. "No! We're going to Ireland, isn't it obvious from the food and my new digs?"

"Everything about what you have going on here is Scottish, not Irish," Izzy pointed out, crossing her arms with an annoyed glare at the host. "Did you think they were the same thing or something?"

"... Nooooooo, of course not!" Chris smiled, backing up until he was next to Chef. He spoke from the side of his mouth in a whisper, still keeping the smile. "Do we have enough gas to make it to Scotland?"

"If we had took the short way, yeah we would," the cook grumbled back. "But since you insisted on the long way? Nah, we're still landing in Cork. We don't got the fuel to make it farther."

Chris sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "I knew we'd probably have another Athens and Rome situation this season, but I didn't think it was going to happen THIS soon. Oh well, Ireland it is!" He huffed off, arms folded. "Now I have to change into a whole different outfit, darn it!"

As the host and pilot left to tend to their respective duties, murmuring broke out among the groups concerning their upcoming destination. Izzy in particular looked ecstatic as she threw an arm around Harold.

"Coolio! Between me and Harold, we've got like a totally unbeatable home field advantage!" She pulled her fellow redhead close, flashing him a grin. "We'll have the luck o' the Irish on our side, eh McGrady?"

The dweeb nodded enthusiastically, giving the team a similar smile. "I was really hoping we'd be going through Ireland this season. My grandpa was even born in Cork, so this works out wicked for us!"

Having overheard the conversation from the next table over, Brick looked over at Scott curiously. "Say, Scott, you wouldn't happen to have some Irish blood in ya too, would ya?"

The dirt farmer scoffed, narrowing his eyes towards his teammate. "Not all redheads have Irish ancestors you know."

***** Confessional: Scott *****

"I mean, my great grandma WAS Irish, but still!"

***** Somewhere above Cork, Ireland *****

The plane eventually began making its descent into Ireland, flying above the city of Cork. After passing over various Georgian style buildings, from churches to a food market, the plane settled into the local airport. Contestants followed behind Chris, who was now clad in a green 'Kiss Me, I'm Irish,' shirt to go with his otherwise usual attire.

"Kinda surprised you didn't go with a leprechaun outfit, honestly," Jasmine mused as they were led to the town's center, her boyfriend chuckling. "Seems like it would be a very you thing to do."

"As it turns out, we DO have a leprechaun outfit," Chris replied, coming to a stop and allowing the others to gather around. "But we have another use for it right now, so this was the best I could do. On that note, time to explain today's challenge!"

Digging in his pockets, the host pulled out a gold coin. At least it looked genuine, but it was engraved with a picture of Chris' face on one side and a picture of the jumbo jet on the other. "Your goal today will actually involve stealing gold from a genuine leprechaun! Of course, there's more to it than that so here's the rundown. Getting the gold will require some extra luck, so first you'll be racing to Blarney Castle nearby. Your goal there will be kissing the infamous Blarney Stone at the top of the castle, bringing you good luck."

"Actually, kissing the Blarney Stone is just supposed to give you the gift of eloquence," Harold explained, raising a finger. "It doesn't bring good lu-"

"ONCE all of your teammates have kissed the stone," Chris loudly continued before the nerd could finish his correction. "You'll then be tasked with hunting down the pot of gold while avoiding the leprechaun's wrath. Be careful, those things get deadly when you mess with their gold!"

"Someone's been watching too many crummy horror movies," Sammy whispered, Beardo smirking in response and replicating the theme from Psycho as he mimed a knife being stabbed a few times.

"You'll continue until everyone on the team has collected a gold coin of their own, and they MUST retrieve their coin themselves without a teammate grabbing it for them." Chris gave a pointed look to Shawn and Jasmine, who both deflated a bit since they had already been making plans to get the task done for the entire team themselves. "Once everyone has their coin you'll return here to the city and make your way to Cork Harbor. All you have to do is deposit all the coins into your team's own pot of gold to win."

A shot cut to an area of the harbor where three pots floated in the water like buoys. There was a blue one with Old School's logo on the side, a green one with Radioactive's logo, and finally a red one with Explosive's logo. The water had them swaying from to side but they more or less stayed relatively stationary.

"That's not all. Because it can't be TOO easy on your kids, you'll have to deposit your coins using these." Chris motioned to his side where Chef approached the group holding a large amount of sticks. They resembled hockey sticks, though the end was more wide and circular. He tossed one of them to Shawn, who inspected it curiously. "They're called hurleys. Typically they're used in a local sport to hurl balls through goalposts, but you'll be using them to fling your coins into your pots. If you miss and a coin lands in the water, you'll have to swim out and retrieve it, then return to land and try again."

"These make for a pretty good melee weapon," Shawn complimented, wacking the stick into his hand a few times before taking a few practice swings. "I'm more of a cricket bat kinda guy, personally, but these would definitely get the job done."

Chris smirked while Chef finished handing out the hurling sticks to the rest of the cast. As he did this, a group of interns suddenly came from off screen hauling a cage that had a sheet covering it. The cage was sat down next to their employer, and the interns noticeably gave it some distance once they were done.

"Glad you approve! And on that note, I almost forgot to introduce our leprechaun for the day. Some of you may recognize him." Chuckling ominously, Chris yanked the sheet off the cage.

Inside was a boy, but he almost seemed more animal than man. His skin was a sickly green, with one ear partially chipped off and nails that seemed closer to claws than anything. He was nearly bald, save for a few long strands of brown, and his teeth were sharp and pointed. He growled as the sunlight blared down on him, and when Chris got close he lunged forward and tried in vain to swipe at his tormentor while making more animal-like noises.

"ZOMBIE!" Shawn jumped into action, protectively getting in front of Jasmine and holding up his hurley like a weapon. "I KNEW they were coming! Everybody stand back, I'll handle this."

"Whoa whoa, hold on Shawn, that's not a zombie!" Rodney quickly held the conspiracy theorist back before he was able to cave the monster boy's skull in. "Didn't you watch World Tour?"

"Ezekiel?" DJ finally said, leaning forward to closer inspect the feral prairie boy but keeping back just enough to stay out of his reach. "You're STILL exploiting the poor guy all these years later?"

"Technically I exploit all of you kids, not just him," Chris pointed out, not missing a beat. He tapped the top of the cage, getting a hate filled glare from the captive within. "But yup, it's Zeke! He'll be playing our leprechaun for the day."

Indeed, Ezekiel wasn't wearing his usual ragged hoodie and jeans. Instead he was completely clad in a stereotypical leprechaun outfit, complete with tiny green hat and polished shoes. He bit at the bars, trying to escape in some way to no avail.

"The kid's parents seemed to finally get basic cable down in that prairie of their's," Chef explained, arms folded. "They finally found out what happened to him back in World Tour and got around to suing the network, asking them to retrieve him and pay for his recovery."

"Usually the contracts are pretty air tight, but we didn't really account for contestants becoming feral in the contracts back then," Chris continued, his tone noticeably more spiteful as he glared down at the cage's occupant. "Letting us use Zeke for this challenge was one of the conditions to the producers agreeing to fix him up."

The others looked on in a mix of sympathy and surprise. Leshawna put her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you agreed to that to begin with."

Chris shrugged. "I ain't the one who has to personally pay for the therapy, so it's no skin off my bones. But since the network is going to do that for him, that means Zeke is going to be a nice, cooperative little leprechaun, isn't that right?"

He narrowed his eyes expectantly at Ezekiel, who merely folded his arms and grumbled something ineligible that vaguely sounded like agreement.

"So that about covers it. Get to Blarney Castle, kiss the stone, steal some gold without Zeke maiming you, then make it back to the harbor to hurl in your coins. First team to get all their coins back wins first class, the last team to do it sends someone home. Any questions?" Chris looked over the cast, some of them shooting up a hand. "None? Cool, challenge starts in one minute."

He walked off, ignoring those who wanted to ask something. The interns returned to haul off Ezekiel to wherever he was needed, Shawn watching him nervously all the while.

***** Confessional: Shawn *****

"I'm trying to stay calm and tell myself it's just a feral guy. Not a zombie." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes in an attempt to further relax. "Sure he may growl like a zombie, and has green skin like a zombie, and tries to claw and bite like a zombie... but he's not a zombie! Totally not, just a regular old feral dude."

Shawn chuckled nervously, tapping his fingers along the counter. "No problemo."

***** In the middle of Cork *****

"Alright lads and laddies, may the luck of the Irish be with you." Chris blew his airhorn. "Begin!"

The teams were off, with the usual more athletic bunch consisting of Lightning, Shawn, and Jasmine more ahead than the others. Team Explosive and Radioactive used signs to make sure they were on the right direction, but having visited the castle before Harold and Izzy were able to steer their team with no directions needed.

"What's so special about a gosh darn rock, anyway? How's kissing it gonna help us?" Sugar asked, trailing at the end of her group.

"It probably won't, but at least it won't be as dangerous as getting the coins from Ezekiel," Sammy pointed out.

On cue, Izzy suddenly appeared next to the team, running with a wicked grin. "Fun fact, because the stone is embedded in a wall you have to lay on your back and lean over a hole to kiss it! Usually they have someone there to hold you to make sure you don't fall, but I'm guessing Chris won't have that for us."

"And you'd be right!" Chris' voice echoed around the teams through a megaphone, followed up with some laughter. With her piece of information passed on, Izzy had then disappeared to return to her team, leaving some members of Team Explosive notably more nervous.

The race to Blarney Castle was otherwise relatively uneventful. Unsurprisingly, Lightning was the first to reach the destination, his teammates all fairly far behind the jock. "Sha-first! That's what Lightning's talking bout!" Flexing, he gave his biceps a kiss each, then glared back at his teammates. "Come on now, Lightning don't got all day."

Brick and Dakota were making good progress towards the castle, but all Lightning's calling did was annoy the rest of the team who were sweaty and out of breath. Anne Maria had to stop momentarily, leaning against a tree. As she did, Shawn and Jasmine ran by with the remainder of their team close behind. Though Beardo and Sugar in particular were clearly struggling to keep up the pace. When she noticed Team Old School also fast approaching with Izzy at the front of the group, the Jersey girl took back off.

Eventually it was Team Explosive to fully arrive at the castle first, though the aforementioned country girl and beatboxer collapsed to catch their breath while the main couple looked over the castle.

"The stone is at the top," Jasmine reminded everyone. "So we just gotta navigate our way through the castle to get to the roof."

"Or you can go the more direct way if you don't want to explore a cramped dark castle like me," Shawn added, running up to the side of the building and beginning to climb. "I'll meet anyone who doesn't want to climb at the top, just keep those hurleys ready in case a lurker comes out of the shadows."

The outback girl smirked in amusement at her boyfriend's strategy, shrugging as she followed close behind. Amy watched the two climb, rolling her eyes and jogging in to the castle. "Yeah, no, I'm taking the stairs."

Beardo, Sugar, Dave, and Rodney followed the mean twin through the castle, with a reluctant Sammy bringing up the rear when she determined she wouldn't have the finesse needed for the climb. Once they were gone, the remaining members of Team Radioactive caught up to Lightning, many looking up at Shawn and Jasmine in surprise.

"Are they climbing to the top?" Dakota asked, half impressed and half confused. "Are we allowed to do that?"

"Well Chris didn't say anything against it, so I would assume it's ok," Brick replied. "And it actually might be quicker than finding the way up in the castle itself."

"You call that climbing? Lightning will show you REAL climbing!" Taking the display of athleticism from the Explosive couple as a challenge, Lightning jumped on to the wall and began making his own climb up. Brick and Scott also followed behind as they made their way up the wall, though B tapped his chin and instead decided to go into the castle.

With the remainder of Team Radioactive following B and trusting his sense of direction, Team Old School were the last to arrive despite their sense of direction thanks to less athletic teammates.

"Darn it, we're falling behind." Harold stopped at the castle's entrance to catch his breath, glancing up to see the five climbing contestants. Shawn and Jasmine were already over halfway up, with Lightning not far behind. "Huh, Chris didn't say anything about us having to climb up."

"Looks like fun!" Izzy decided to go ahead and climb as well, not waiting around for any sort of strategy talk.

"Well I've visited here a few times before, so I know the quickest way to the top," the nerd continued, looking on a bit annoyed at his more wild teammate jumping ahead. "So let's get going!"

Harold led the remainder of his team inside, taking off towards the closest path to the roof. The castle wasn't particularly large, but it seemed possible to get turned around if someone took the wrong path. Namely, this was the case for Team Explosive as they suddenly found themselves at the entrance again. Amy had apparently taken some wrong turns, leading their team to go in a circle.

Meanwhile, Shawn had just reached the roof and held a hand down to help hoist up his girlfriend. The two rushed over towards the stone, while the trio climbing from Team Radioactive struggled to force their way up the castle wall.

"Starting to think this was a dumb idea," Scott mumbled as he crossed the halfway point of the wall. Suddenly, he heard a wild giggling below him, and couldn't react in time to avoid Izzy climbing over him. Since this finished with her pushing off of the farmer's face to jump a bit higher up the wall, he nearly lost his grip and yelped at almost falling. "Watch where you're going!"

Brick raised an eyebrow as he watched Izzy zoom up the wall with relative ease. He watched as she began to get near Lightning, who was clearly not paying attention to anything other than his climb. "On your left, Lightning, be advised!"

"Sha-what?" It was too late, as Izzy's spider-like climbing allowed her to zoom over and past Lightning. Being taken off guard, the sudden orange blur going over him caused Lightning to slip, sending him falling down the wall. Brick acted fast and grabbed Lightning's arm as he passed to prevent him from falling all the way down to the ground.

"Don't worry, soldier, I got ya." The cadet huffed as he tried to pull Lightning back towards the wall, though the jock's mass was clearly making it a difficult task. Since he now only had one hand gripping the wall, he sweated nervously as he felt his fingers wobble. "Well, at least I hope I got ya. Scott, a little help here?"

Scott had just passed his two teammates once he received the call for assistance, making him groan a bit as he backtracked to help keep Lightning and Brick safe. Meanwhile at the roof of the castle, Izzy had just finished kissing the stone, while Shawn and Jasmine stood nearby waiting for their team as they had also completed the task.

Eventually a commotion could be heard coming up the stairs. All three looked on hopefully, but the survivalists' expressions faltered when it was Team Old School to make their way to the top first.

"Aw, what? We got here first, how'd they get passed up on the way up the stairs?" Shawn asked while Izzy ran over to rejoin her team.

"Actually, we didn't see Team Explosive on the way up here," DJ commented while his team began taking turns laying down and kissing the stone. It required holding on to two metal bars and leaning one's head back at an awkward angle, with Harold taking the initiative to show how it was done. "They musta got lost down there."

"Well crap, that's not good." Jasmine peered down the staircase, then looked back at her boyfriend. "I'll see if I can go find them. Be back in a jiff."

"Be careful!" While she did that, Shawn decided to keep watch over the wall in case his teammates somehow ended up circling back to the entrance. Meanwhile, Leshawna and Beth had finished kissing the stone, with DJ being the newest to complete the task. Cody was now getting in to position, with his teammates all looking optimistic.

"And now we're back in the lead." Courtney grinned proudly, fists on her hips. "Guess it came in handy to have people on hand that actually knows the location."

While Harold smiled in appreciation, Izzy giggled to herself. "Yeah, this place is pretty cool. Another fun fact about the stone, they say the locals like to spite tourists by coming to the castle here at night and pee on it!"

Since Cody was in mid-kiss with the stone, his eyes shot open. He gagged and scrubbed at his tongue with his hands. It was soon after doing this that he realized in doing so, he had let go of the safety bars. Yelping, his scrawny frame began to slip into the hole and down to the hard surface below. Thankfully, Trent jumped into action just in time to grab his foot before it slipped away. DJ then grabbed his other foot, and together they hoisted the geek back to safety.

Noticing a few annoyed looks coming her way, the crazy redhead just chuckled apologetically. "But they totally don't do that anymore now that the castle has security cameras, so it's all good!"

***** Confessional: Cody *****

Cody scrubbed at his tongue furiously with a toothbrush, spitting in to the sink before then brushing the teeth.

***** On Blarney Castle *****

After a reluctant Trent and Courtney also kissed the stone, Team Old School were off to find their way to the next challenge. Shawn tapped his fingers along the walls, pondering if he should go look for Jasmine and the others in case they had ran in to a hoard of zombies. It was then that he heard a new group of voices approaching. His optimistic grin quickly turned to a frown when he saw that it was merely Team Radioactive.

"Oh come on!"

"Ya snooze ya lose, scruffy boy," Anne Maria taunted at the team ran past Shawn and over to the stone. B's sense of direction had seemed to aid getting them up to the roof in a timely manner, though not as quick as Harold since he hadn't personally been to the castle before like him.

While Dawn moved to kiss the stone first, Dakota looked around curiously. "Where at the others at?"

"We're here!" Brick groaned as he crawled over the top of the wall and plopped on to the roof. Lightning was right behind him, with Scott finally bringing up the rear. Lightning was silent, perhaps disgruntled that he had to have been rescued from plummeting off the wall, so he merely made his way over to his teammates with arms folded. Scott and Brick looked out of breath from hauling their teammate to safety, but were otherwise fine.

One by one the generation two team went about kissing the stone, while Shawn nervously looked on for his teammates. It was only after Brick and Scott finally did the deed that Team Explosive finally began approaching from the stairs. Led by a very annoyed looking Jasmine, she merely pointed towards the stone and the others hurried to try and make up for lost time.

"Sorry about the delay, somehow Amy got them super lost," the Australian explained, sending a glare the mean twin's way. "The castle isn't THAT big, so I couldn't imagine how she did it."

***** Confessional: Amy *****

"Alright, so I'm not the best at directions. So what? Who has the time to worry about getting good at useless stuff like that?"

***** On Blarney Castle *****

By now Team Old School and Radioactive were totally out of sight, and Team Explosive had just finished the deed by last having Sugar smooch the stone. While she was getting up, Shawn scanned the horizon for any sign of Ezekiel.

"Chris didn't really specify where we go to find the pot of gold," he pondered out loud. "There's gotta be some kind of hint."

Sammy and Jasmine approached him, and it was then that the nice twin gasped and pointed to the sky. "Look, over there!"

In the sky was a rainbow, that seemed to lead into a more heavily forested area of town. They all exchanged a look, nodding before leading the others to the end of the rainbow. It was a cliche, but that just meant it was all the more likely to be where Chris wanted them to go.

Meanwhile, the other teams had also come to the conclusion that they needed to follow the rainbow. As they entered the more heavily forested area keeping view of the rainbow became more difficult, but they were making steady progress. Beth looked around nervously as Ezekiel's animal-like grunts and growls could be heard around them.

"How long has he been feral at this point?" she asked her teammates as they kept their guard up, knowing the prairie boy could be dangerous when left unchecked. "Honestly, I don't know how someone can even come back from that after so long."

"You both grew up on a farm, right?" Cody replied, keeping his hurley gripped tight in case he needed to use it defensively. "Maybe you could try relating to him to calm him down? Who knows, maybe you guys could really hit it off?"

Beth chuckled. "What, me and Zeke being a thing? Nah, I don't think that would happen."

"Hey, crazier things have happened on this sh- WHOA!" DJ skidded to a halt, nearly avoiding projectile vomit that landed in front of him. This was no ordinary vomit, as it was acidic and caused the grass to dissolve on the spot. The team looked up, spotting Ezekiel perched on a tree branch with a terrifying glare. He sent another shot of vomit their way, causing them to disperse to avoid injury.

"Well that's gonna make getting near him pretty dangerous," Trent pointed out as he and Leshawna ducked behind a tree to avoid the newest shot of bile. "But at least he doesn't have a way to mess with us from long distance."

On cue, Trent was suddenly nailed in the side of the head with a shoe. Leshawna looked up to see Ezekiel standing a bit away, wielding a shoe cannon. Yes, a cannon that fires out shoes. He cackled maniacally as he fired shoes at Team Old School as if it was a machine gun. While most shots missed, some pelted team members in various body parts.

"Leprechauns are supposed to love having shoes clean and polished, shooting them around the forest is totally inaccurate to the lore," Harold complained before a well sized boot found itself planted square between the legs. He groaned in pain, grabbing his assaulted crotch as he fell to the ground.

Ezekiel continued to laugh as Team Old School scrambled and dispersed. He noticed Courtney ducking into a bush for cover and was almost ready to fire when he suddenly heard loud footsteps coming from behind. Curious, he turned around just in time to see Lightning charge in to him, running the feral mutant over like a freight train.

"Sha-bam! Lightning ain't afraid of no monsters." The jock kissed his biceps proudly, looking down at Ezekiel with his best cocky grin. "Watcha got, freakshow? How you gonna handle the Lightning?"

Gritting his teeth, Ezekiel fired up his shot and hit his projectile vomit towards Lightning. Due to the closeness, the athlete wasn't able to fully avoid the blow with some bile getting on his pants. Normally this would be very gross but otherwise harmless, but thanks to it being mutant vomit it was as if he had sat on lava. Yelling, Lightning held his buttocks and ran to find the nearest water source to jump in to. He ran past the rest of his team in the process, who had been watching the scuffle from behind cover.

"Welp, so much for that plan," Scott snarked while Lightning plopped down into a nearby pond.

"I bet his acid spit wouldn't do anything to Dakotazoid," Anne Maria pointed out, everyone turning their eyes to the heiress in question. "Think you could go keep him busy for us?"

***** Confessional: Dakota *****

"Ugh, that's two challenges in a row they've wanted me to turn into Dakotazoid for them. I didn't come back to just be known as 'that girl who can turn into a big mutant.' Really hope this doesn't become a reoccurring thing."

***** In the forest surrounding Blarney *****

"I'm not mad right now, but I guess if we need a last ditch plan I could try it," Dakota finally said, the team having now been rejoined by Lightning while Ezekiel terrorized Team Old School some more. "Any other ideas? Preferably one that doesn't get someone hurt?"

B rubbed his chin, thinking over potential scenarios to get the team to safety. As he looked over his teammates, an idea finally struck. Dawn took notice of his change in expression and smiled. "I believe B has an idea."

Everyone looked towards the silent genius, curious. With their attention on him, he simply pointed at Anne Maria, then at Ezekiel. Some seemed a bit confused, the Jersey girl especially, so Dawn continued to explain.

"He believes that Anne Maria could sufficiently distract him with no risk of being harmed."

"Oh yeah, he was smitten with her back in season four," Brick recalled, grinning at the plan. "There's no way he'd hurt her, and if he's distracted then we can get to the pot of gold no problem."

"And what about me?" Anne Maria cut in, not at all looking optimistic over being used as a distraction. "I gotta get some gold too, ya know."

"Guy would probably lead you to it himself, I'd bet," Scott pointed out. "If you distract him long enough for us to get in and out, then you can just have him bring you to it and meet us back at the harbor."

There was silence, everyone other than Anne Maria seemed to agree that they wouldn't find a better plan than this one. Looking around at her team's expectant faces, she eventually sighed and crossed her arms. "Ugh, fine, I'll go keep the weirdo busy."

With Team Radioactive's appreciative smiles watching her on from their cover, Anne Maria walked out into the open. Ezekiel had just fired a stiletto right at DJ's ribs when he got the feeling that someone was approaching him. He turned around, shoe cannon at the ready, only to falter when he noticed it being Anne Maria.

"Yo, uh, Zeke wasn't it?" Anne Maria chuckled nervously, approaching the feral mutant with the upmost caution. "Long time no see! You, uh, you looking pretty good! You been working out or something?"

Ezekiel stammered some sort of unintelligible gibberish, some of his acidic drool leaking from the side of his mouth. But to Anne Maria's credit, he had otherwise come out of his aggressive mode and was giving her his full attention.

"How abouts you and I walk and talk, really catch up and junk?" Not expecting this to work, she was surprised when Ezekiel grinned and nodded while still grunting his animal-like noises. Cringing, but baring it, she walked off in a new direction while Zeke followed close behind. Once they were out of earshot, the remainder of Team Radioactive jumped out of hiding and made a sprint towards the end of the rainbow.

***** Confessional: Anne Maria *****

She shuddered as she applied a fresh coat of hairspray to her massive poof, then moved to check her makeup. "Yo, all I know is this betta mean I'm on everyone's good side after this challenge. Chatterbox getting outed makes me think I'm on the outs on this team, so this should show em what an asset I am."

***** In Blarney Forest *****

While Anne Maria had Ezekiel occupied, Team Radioactive located the pot of gold with ease. B tracked the rainbow to the end, and sure enough the cauldron sat there on a log in a clearing. Wasting no time, everyone grabbed a gold Chris coin from the pot and started making their way back to Cork. Meanwhile, Team Old School had regrouped after they noticed Ezekiel was no longer hunting them.

"Where'd Zeke go all of a sudden?" Trent pondered as they too went back to tracking the rainbow. "He was just breathing down our necks, and now nothing?"

"I ain't complaining, I'd say we shouldn't question it and keep going," DJ replied, rubbing his sore ribs with a wince. "I'm guessing he's dealing with one of the other teams at the moment so now's our best chance to pull back ahead."

"Check it out, we found the loot!" Izzy pointed and zoomed past some trees, locating the pot of gold. There were light cheers among the group as everyone picked a coin and started making their own way out of the forest. By the time they were gone, Ezekiel and Anne Maria had just entered the clearing themselves, the former looking on at his crush with a dopey lovestruck grin.

"Aw, thanks for bringing me to the gold! I'm sure you still feel bad for screwing me out of my last season by giving me that fake diamond, so this makes up for it," she said, not trying to sound bitter and condescending but still doing so anyway.

It was as the two began approaching the pot of gold when they suddenly heard a loud fart from nearby. They looked back, spotting Team Explosive who had been in the middle of trying to stealthily sneak to the gold. Though now all other members were glaring at Sugar, as her flatulence had alerted Zeke to their location. Realizing that he had forgotten to keep his head in the challenge, Ezekiel roared viciously and immediately opened fire with the shoe cannon. Team Explosive screamed and ran off, with the mutant hot on their trail. Anne Maria blinked in surprise at the situation, eventually shrugging and grabbing her coin from the pot so she could join her team back at Cork.

Team Explosive gave various screams and distressed noises as they bobbed and weaved out of the way of shoes and acidic vomit. Most were able to keep up the dodging, though Beardo and Rodney's large frames earned them some shoes to the back. Shawn was breathing in and out, trying to keep himself composed.

"Not a zombie, not a zombie," he repeated to himself in a whisper. "He's firing shoes, zombies don't do that. Why would zombies do that? That would just be silly."

"You alright?" Jasmine asked, concerned.

"Never better!" The zombie nut chuckled, peering back at their feral attacker. He was gaining ground, and it didn't help that most of the team was either nonathletic or huge. "We really gotta get this guy off our tail so the others can get their gold. I'm gonna try and keep him busy."

"Well I'm coming with you, we'll really keep him occupied if we're both overwhelming him."

Without time to really explain things to their team, the power couple immediately sprung into action. Shawn rolled out of the way of an army boot, the used the hurley to deflect a croc back at Ezekiel. The shoe hit its mark right on homeschool's nose, prompting a growl in response. Zeke didn't have time to act, since Jasmine followed up by knocking a flip flop into the other side of his head. Watching the two of them retreat into a different direction of the forest, Ezekiel roared and gave chase, leaving the remainder of Team Explosive alone.

"This is out chance, lets circle back and grab the gold!" Sammy lead the charge back towards the end of the rainbow. Amy wasn't too happy about it, but since everyone else was already following her, there wasn't anything that could be done.

Meanwhile, Shawn and Jasmine did their best to disorientate Ezekiel by diverting his attention back and forth between the two of them. He was aggressive and a good shot, but the two of them outclassed him in athleticism and speed. Still, it was quickly becoming apparent that they'd need to figure out how to shake him for good so they too could retrieve their gold and join their team.

"I've got an idea," Jasmine eventually called over to her boyfriend. "It's a bit more on the underhanded side, but..."

"Hey, gotta do what we gotta do," Shawn agreed with a nod. "What are ya thinking?"

Nearly outside the forest, Team Old School felt optimistic as they had pocketed their gold for now and jogged back towards their destination.

"I think Team Radioactive is ahead of us, but as long as we finish before Team Explosive we're golden," Harold reasoned.

"And I don't think that orange girl was with her team since she was busy with Zeke," Leshawna added. "So we might yet have a shot at getting first class."

As the conversation continued among the group, at the back of the pack Beth couldn't help but hear rumblings in the forest behind them getting louder and louder. Looking back out of curiosity, she yelped as two opposing team members suddenly emerged from out of the shrubbery behind her.

"Sorry about this in advance, guys," Shawn said apologetically, before turning around and cupping his hands around his mouth. "HEY, YA NOT-ZOMBIE! COME ON AND GET US ALREADY!"

With that said, he and Jasmine then immediately dove into the bushes. The yell had of course got the attention of everyone on Team Old School, who turned around in time to see Ezekiel jump from tree to tree towards them. He looked around for the survivalist couple, but with them hidden the only ones in his sight now were the first generation team.

"Oh come on, we do NOT have the time to deal with this again," Courtney yelled, preemptively holding up her hurley to try and deflect the incoming projectiles.

"Don't worry, guys, I've got this!" No time to think it over, Izzy dove at Zeke before he could fire up the shoe cannon. The weapon was knocked to the ground and the two began wrestling. He was strong and aggressive, but then again so was Izzy. They were seemingly in a stalemate, rolling back and forth as they put the other in holds. "Just go, I'll catch up once we're done!"

With no time to protest in case Ezekiel wiggled free of her grasp, the rest of Team Old School nodded and took off towards Cork. Anne Maria also emerged out of the forest at this time, giving a dumbfounded look towards the grappling match but otherwise not slowing down. Their job done, Shawn and Jasmine also carefully left their hiding place and went back towards the pot of gold.

***** Cockpit Confessional: Jasmine *****

"Yeah, I know it was kind of a jerk move to lead that ankle biter to the other team, but we were behind and needed a way to catch up." She shrugged, using the extra space of the cockpit to actually stretch out a bit.

"Psh, if anything you should be apologetic towards Zeke for leaving him to deal with Izzy," Chef pointed out.

Jasmine snort laughed. "Fair point."

***** At Cork Harbor *****

Contestants began finally making their way to the end of the challenge. Team Radioactive was the first on the scene, with the obvious lack of Anne Maria. Scott wasted no time taking a shot and hitting his coin towards his team's pot, but it missed by a fairly large margin. Grunting in annoyance, he began swimming out to retrieve it while the others took a second to think over the best way to try and swing. B especially seemed to be thoroughly testing as he lightly bounced his coin on his hurley, then took note of the light wind and how it would affect things.

"Sha-wack!" The one other example of impatience was Lightning, who just went for it. Unlike Scott, however, his shot was perfect and the coin landed in their team's pot with authority. The others looked at him with dropped jaws while he proudly kissed his biceps for the umpteenth time this episode.

Nodding in approval at Lightning's shot, B then finished his calculations and took a shot of his own. Sure enough, the coin hit the mark and now they were two coins closer to first class. Unfortunately, the remainder of the team missed their shots, forcing them to swim for them just as Scott was almost back to shore.

It was then that Team Old School, lacking Izzy, were next to arrive. They took note of the various members of Team Radioactive in the water, confirming that first class was still a possibility. Anne Maria was also right behind them, getting calls from her team to quickly join them.

"Lets get the lead out, people, we don't need another night in economy class." Courtney was the first of the team to take a shot, the coin very nearly hitting the mark only to bounce off the rim in to the water. Others took their shots, with Cody and DJ also getting very close but in the end all seven coins landed in the water.

From there it was a mad dash to try again over and over. Those that missed swam with all their might, while B tried his best to silently coach his teammates on their swinging method. They were gradually getting better, but while they weren't quite as analytical, Team Old School had Courtney, Harold, and Cody all also helping to try and figure out the best trajectory. The aforementioned trio and Dawn had all also added their coins in to their respective pots when Team Explosive arrived on the scene, obviously lacking Shawn and Jasmine.

"Aaaand, we're in last place," Dave lamented, sighing. "Great."

"None of them are done yet, though," Sammy pointed out. "We can-" She paused, as Beardo wasted no time knocking his coin towards the pot. As luck would have it, the coin hit the mark, surprising even the beatboxer. "Whoa, nice shot Beardo!"

Smiling sheepishly, he held up a thumbs up with accompanying 'ding' sound affect. The others followed the example, swinging their coins at the pot. Most missed, but of all people Sugar's coin hit the mark with what was mostly dumb luck.

"Boom! Just like getting a ring on a bottle at the county fair!"

The competition heated up, with everyone working overtime to be first. Team Radioactive seemed the most confident, not only because B's directions had also landed Dakota and Brick's coins, but also since they were the only team with all members present. Old School wasn't far behind now that Trent and DJ landed their coins, but Team Explosive was doing their best and had landed the coins for Sammy and Rodney.

"We're here!" Everyone looked to the side to see Shawn jogging in to the scene, Jasmine right behind him. The original generation cast scanned the area behind them, paling when they saw no Izzy in sight. Things weren't feeling much better when Shawn immediately nailed the coin shot, knowing how to handle a melee weapon like the hurley better than nearly anyone.

More coins found their mark, first with Jasmine, then Leshawna. Next was Scott, leaving only Anne Maria's coin for their team. Dave finally nailed the shot, leaving only Amy for their team. Then it was Beth's turn, making Team Old School groan since they now only lacked the still missing Izzy's coin.

"Phew, you guys would NOT believe the fight Zeke put up, he's real scrappy let me tell ya." Everyone heard a voice call out from the distance. There was a mix of cheers and worry when they saw the source as Izzy, running up to the scene with the upmost quickness. Amy was part of the distracted when she hit her coin, but somehow the distraction actually worked for the best as she accidentally landed it in the pot.

"Team Explosive wins first class again," Chris called, as he had totally been standing on the sidelines the whole time probably.

Ignoring the cheers from Team Explosive, a sweating B quickly took charge and corrected Anne Maria's positioning and stance to ensure her next wack would hit the mark. Noting the genius doing his thing, Courtney called out to to the final teammate. "Izzy, just go long!"

Nodding at the challenge, Izzy stuck a thumb out to quickly check the wind, then smacked her coin with all her might to send it soaring through the air. Team Old School watched with mouths agape as they saw it zoom through the sky, arcing overhead and landing straight in their pot!

... though it landed mere moments AFTER Anne Maria's coin had landed in Team Radioactive's pot.

"And in a near photo finish, Team Radioactive is safe!" Chris chuckled mischievously. "Team Old School, one of you is done like dinner."

There was a mix of groans and sighs among the original cast team, while Team Radioactive cheered at their safety. Among the cheers, Scott glanced over at the losing team, taking note of Courtney's sour expression.

***** On the Jumbo Jet *****

Courtney was walking towards economy class from the dinning room, only to flinch as Scott suddenly ran in front of her.

"Listen, Courtney, I wanted to talk to you before your team goes to elimination." The dirt farmer blocked the doorway, getting an annoyed glare for his troubles. "You know, in case it turns out to be too late and all."

"And just what is THAT supposed to mean?" She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at the comment.

"Well, you know, I figured with your attitude and all your team might be voting you off so-"

"I can handle myself just fine, thank you very much," Courtney spat, her glare intensifying and making Scott's expression turn to worry. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk strategy, so leave me alone!"

She brushed past her former short-lived boyfriend, with Scott groaning and hitting his head against the wall. "Stupid!"

Trying to immediately forget the confrontation, Courtney entered the economy class to see Trent and Cody in the middle of an argument.

"Come on, dude, that near fall could have been bad news for us, you're lucky I was there to save your skin," Trent pointed out, looking disgruntled.

"It's not my fault I almost fell! It's not like it put us behind, and at least I didn't get nailed by shoes from Zeke as much as you did," the geek shot back, both glaring at each other.

Courtney slid into a seat between DJ and Beth, both of whom were watching the argument curiously.

"I thought you were sure they'd be on the same page?" the brickhouse commented, a hint of sass to his tone.

Courtney shrugged dismissively. "Friends fight all the time, it doesn't mean anything."

"I don't know, they seem pretty mad." Beth winced as the bickering increased in volume between the bandmates, Harold now stepping between them to try and dispel the ruckus. "Maybe they're not as unified as we thought? The Drama Brothers have broken up before, after all."

"That's not a risk we should be willing to take." Sighing, the former CIT glanced over at Izzy, who was watching the argument while snacking on some popcorn she somehow found. "I feel like they're going to target Izzy since she was the last to arrive and caused Cody to almost fall. And like I said, if she goes then the rest of us are sitting ducks."

DJ raised an eyebrow. "A'ight, so who do you think should be voted off instead?"

"Well the thing that makes the potential alliance most threatening is potentially having Leshawna along with it," Courtney pointed out, noticing that the aforementioned sister was now assisting Harold breakup the disagreement. "And the link between the band and her is Harold. Get rid of him and she's back to being a lone wolf, while Trent and Cody become a non-threat."

Beth rolled her eyes. "Of course you think it should be Harold, you're probably still not over what he did way back in season one! Why are you still bitter?"

Courtney scoffed. "I am NOT. I mean, yeah, that was still totally bogus and they should have let me return because of the vote rigging, but I'm long over it. It's purely a strategic choice, nothing more."

"Well Harold probably did the most in the challenge and helped get us in the lead for a bit there, it wouldn't make sense to vote him off when he didn't do anything wrong." DJ crossed his arms. "Personally, I think if we have to vote one of the band off it should be Cody. Dude almost fell off the castle just because Izzy said something crazy. We, of all people, should know not to take what she says seriously at this point."

"Yeah, no offense to him but I think Trent and Harold would both be better to keep around that him," Beth agreed with a nod. "If we're not voting for Izzy, Cody is the next best bet."

"But Harold was only so knowledgeable because his family is FROM Ireland," Courtney pointed out, eyes narrowed. "It's not like we'll go back there later in the season. For the sake of maximizing our safety, Harold is the only logical choice to-"

"Voting time, Team Old School!" Chris' announcement over the intercom cut the Latina off, much to her annoyance. "Let's move those keisters on down to the elimination area!"

***** In the Elimination Area *****

"Well well well, you would think our longest tenured contestants would have lasted a bit longer before having to vote someone off." Chuckling, the host lined up seven peanut filled barf bags in front of him. "But since we have Team Victory alumni here, I guess some things never change. Anyhow, the votes have been cast. When I call your name, that means you're safe. The first barf bag goes to... Leshawna!"

Pumping her fist, she gladly caught the symbol of safety once thrown to her.

"DJ, Trent, Beth."

The boys caught their bags with ease, while Beth's first bounced off of her face and landed in her hands.

"And, surprisingly, Courtney. All of you are safe."

Courtney frowned at the comment but none the less was happy to have her name called.

"Also safe tonight is... Cody!"

Sighing in relief, the tech geek caught his barf bag and exchanged a high five with Trent. This earned confused looked from DJ and Beth, and an annoyed one from Courtney. Meanwhile, Harold and Izzy looked on nervously at the final barf bag.

"Look at that, our two teamies of Irish descent in the bottom two together in Ireland! What are the odds?" Noticing that Harold almost seemed ready to answer with the odds, Chris immediately went back to talking. "Rhetorical question, by the way. As I was saying, one barf bag left, and two red headed losers to choose from. The final person safe tonight is...

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... Harold!"

"Wicked!" The nerd stood up to grab his barf bag, getting cheers and high fives from both Leshawna and his band comrades. DJ and Beth smiled sheepishly at Courtney, who looked at them with an annoyed scowl and folded arms.

"Tch, for real? I was just starting to have some fun around here!" Still smiling despite everything, Izzy stood up and accepted the parachute thrown to her. "Oh well, guess thems the breaks, eh Christopher?"

"I'd like to say I'm sad to see ya go, Izzy, but admittedly I'm kinda glad it was you." Pointing a thumb to the roof with one hand, he opened the hatch with the other. "Think you could take care of business for us on your way out?"

Izzy raised an eyebrow, grinning devilishly. "Depends. If someone gets to return later in the season, can I be given priority?"

The host rubbed his chin in thought, weighing if agreeing to such a deal was worth the benefits. "Tell ya what, I'll definitely _consider_ it."

"Eh, good enough for me." Shrugging, Izzy strapped on her parachute and actually turned around while standing at the edge of the hatch. "Fire away!"

With a click of a button, the Boot of Shame came swinging down. Thanks to her reflexes, Izzy was actually able to jump in time to bounce off of the boot, sending her upwards out of the hatch. On the top of the plane, Ezekiel could be seen crawling his way across the roof. Now back in his normal clothes instead of the leprechaun getup, he nearly made it to a hatch that would allow him to enter the jet. Right as he went to open the hatch, he heard a wild yelling quickly approaching from behind. He turned around just in time to see a green and orange blur tackle him, sending both he and Izzy off the jet and falling to the ground below. Ezekiel's screams echoed through the sky, coupled with Izzy's wild whooping.

"Ah, the peace of mind to know we won't have to deal with THAT GUY this time around." Chris breathed a sigh of relief, smiling. "Another one bites the dust! Can the outsiders of Team Old School recover? Will Courtney keep giving Scott the cold shoulder? Can Team Explosive keep up their dominant winning streak? And who will be next to properly taste the Boot of Shame? Tune in next time to find out, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

The episode ended with Ezekiel and Izzy's noises still echoing in the background.

**Voting Confessionals:**

Beth stamped Cody's passport, looking conflicted. "It's just hard for me to trust Courtney right now, especially since she wants to vote out someone she's always had a vendetta against despite him being really useful this challenge. I won't vote for Izzy, so maybe she'll come around and vote the same as me and DJ?"

"Hehe, me and Trent having a bit of an argument was starting to make me nervous there, but thankfully Harold brought us to our senses." Cody stamped Izzy's passport. "Anyway, Izzy kinda almost made me fall off a castle today, so it's an easy vote for me."

"Ugh, I hope those idiots come to their senses or else we'll be down one outsider and the rest of us will be powerless against the Drama Brothers." Sighing, Courtney gave Harold's passport a stamp. "Like okay, maybe I AM still a bit bitter against Harold, but this is legitimately the smartest thing to do for strategy!"

DJ looked between Harold and Cody's passport, eventually shrugging and stamping Cody's. "It just wouldn't feel right voting off Harold when he pulled the most weight today. I hope Courtney sees that, if she really is that worried about there being an alliance."

"I hate to vote out my fellow Irish teammate considering the location, but between almost making Cody fall and spending too long wrestling around with Zeke, it's the only logical choice." Giving Izzy's passport a stamp, Harold nodded. "Sorry, Izzy. It's nothing personal."

"Courtney rushed up to me on the way to vote being all 'Raawr, we gotta vote out Harold or else we're doooomed." Cackling, the wild child stamped Harold's passport. "She was SUPER freaked out, it was pretty funny. But eh, works for me, only one redhead can reign supreme on this team!"

Leshawna stamped Izzy's passport with no hesitation. "Even if she didn't almost get Cody injured, I'd still probably be voting Izzy anyway. Girl is able to do some crazy things, sure, but it's hard enough to feel safe on this deathtrap of a plane without her around causing more mayhem."

Trent chuckled, casually face palming. "Can't believe I got worked up towards Cody for something so dumb. Thankfully we got it all hashed out. Plus, it wasn't even his fault that he almost fell. It was Izzy's. So, yeah, kind of an easy choice." The musician stamped Izzy's passport.

Votes for Izzy: 4 (Cody, Harold, Leshawna, Trent)

Votes for Harold: 2 (Courtney, Izzy)

Votes for Cody: 2 (Beth, DJ)

**After the Boot of Shame:**

Izzy continued to whoop and cheer as she somersaulted through the air. "Woohoo, this is so much fun! It always bummed me out that I left World Tour without getting to do the drop, this is so cool! Anyway, yeah, it's a bummer to be out so early, BUT Chris did say I may get priority if someone gets to return. I've only returned, what, three times before? I gotta improve on my record if I want to keep it! You haven't seen the last of Izzy yet!"

Her thought process was interrupted when she suddenly heard wild screaming and grunting. She looked down, seeing Ezekiel also flying through the sky, flailing his arms in terror since he had no parachute. Izzy then caught up, putting an arm around the feral boy while using her other hand to deploy the parachute.

"Yo, Zeke! Long time no see, homeschool." Ezekiel looked on at her in confusion, finding himself unable to wiggle free from her grasp. "Hey, did you know that back in the day some of the fans liked to think we'd be a good couple?"

Zeke recoiled, raising an eyebrow at the comment. "Haha, weird right? Pretty sure I was still together with Big O at the time! Then again, I guess it kinda makes sense. We do both have a bit of a wild side, am I right?"

The two finally landed, Ezekiel able to eventually wiggle free from her grasp and run away. "Hey, where ya going? Oh, up for a game of tag? You're on, Zekey boy!" Chuckling wildly, Izzy gave chase, Zeke's distressed screams echoing ahead.

**Remaining Contestants:**

Team Old School:Beth, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Harold, Leshawna, Trent

Team Radioactive:Anne Maria, B, Brick, Dakota, Dawn, Lightning, Scott

Team Explosive:Amy, Beardo, Dave, Jasmine, Rodney, Sammy, Shawn, Sugar

**Elimination Order:**

23rd: Izzy

24th: Staci


	4. Go Kart Calamity

"Previously on Total Drama Battle of the Generations," Chris began in his usual narration. "Our teams touched down in Ireland for a good old fashioned gold hunt! After kissing a stone for luck, Cody nearly fell off a tower, but eh, no pain no gain right? After dealing with our very own leprechaun played by Ezekiel, it was a race to deposit everyone's gold into their own pots. Team Explosive ended up cinching the win once again, while Team Old School lost in a photo finish. At the elimination ceremony, crazy Izzy was voted out for nearly injuring Cody and having a bit too much fun playing around with Zeke. Which didn't sit well with Courtney, now that she, Beth, and DJ find themselves on the outs of their team. What torture is in store next for these victims? Is Team Explosive going to win again? And who's next to get forcefully kicked off the plane? All that and more, right now on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

***** Opening Credits *****

Things opened sometime after Izzy's elimination, but rather than opening on Team Old School, it opened in the cargo hold. Members from both Team Radioactive and Team Explosive were going through their now routine check to ensure no zombies had found their way on the plane. Shawn was obviously the one taking the search most seriously, but everyone else was mostly doing their best to be thorough. With the exception of Scott, who seemed mildly frustrated to be there.

"Alright, we're getting this knocked out pretty quick today, just a few more boxes in the back there and we can call it a day," Jasmine observed, the group moving towards one of the back corners of the room.

"Having you guys along really speeds this up." Shawn hopped down from a box, landing next to Dawn and Brick. "Thanks again for the help."

"It's no trouble at all!" The cadet smiled, getting to work on searching another crate. "All things considered, it was more than worth it for the help you gave us with B's doohickey."

The silent genius in question flashed a thumbs up, also resuming his search. A nearby Scott rolled his eyes at the exchange, haphazardly looking into a new crate of his own only to wind up screaming as a stowaway raccoon jumped out from within and latched itself to his face.

***** Confessional: Scott *****

Scrubbing his face that was now covered in a few claw marks from the raccoon, he looked on in annoyance. "So from what I understand, at the start of the season some of my teammates struck up this weird deal with the Explosive guys to do a 'zombie search' whenever we get back on board." He used air quotes to emphasize the zombie part, scoffing. "It sounds annoying, but the way I see it we got the better end of the deal. They forced the other team into helping Beverly make that thing keeping him from getting disqualified, and all we have to do in exchange is make sure zombies aren't on the plane? Ha! They aren't even real! I mean, if we were searching for an actual monster like werewolves or a wendigo I'd understand, but believing in zombies? That's just dumb."

***** In First Class *****

Once the search was over, the members of Team Radioactive were the first to file out of the cargo hold. They had to cut through first class to return to economy, with Brick and B looking on longingly at the snack bar while passing through. Dawn was pretty much stoic, while Scott was dealing with the pain from his claw marks.

"See you guys after the next challenge," Sammy called as they left, a cheerful tone to her voice that seemed to irk her nearby sister. But there was no reason to speak out about it. In general most of those from Team Explosive that didn't contribute to the zombie search were all lounging and relaxing in peace. Though when Shawn and Jasmine finally reentered first class, the conspiracy nut couldn't help but notice a sort of dejected expression from Dave.

"Geez, I'm getting kinda worried about the guy," Shawn said in a low voice so as to not be heard by anyone other than his girlfriend. He motioned his head toward's Dave direction to confirm who he was referring to. "You think he's holding up alright?"

"Well he did end last season on a pretty ugly note," she answered, looking over cautiously at the germaphobe. "Honestly, I'm still a bit on edge around him after how gung ho he got trying to take you and Sky out in the finale."

"To be fair, you contributed a bit to that yourself." Shawn chuckled, elbowing his girlfriend playfully.

Jasmine did a snort laugh, but quickly regained her composure. "Well you got me there, but still he was a little TOO eager to try to injure Sky. It wasn't even about the money with him like it was for me, he came across pretty spiteful."

Shawn looked on, pondering. "I guess, but he did kind of get strung along too. It was just a pretty crappy situation all around. I'm gonna go check in on him, see if he's hanging in there."

Nearby, Dave sighed from boredom as he watched out the window, chin rested in his hand. Only the sound of someone sitting next to him got him to sit up straight and look over. "Oh, hey Shawn. What's up?"

"Just wanted to check in on ya, bromigo." The scruffier boy chuckled awkwardly. "We haven't really had a chance to talk yet this season, and I was just hoping you were doing ok."

Dave shrugged. "I guess. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well... Pahkitew Island did end kind of awkwardly. And while Jasmine and I don't really use social media, Sammy mentioned fans have been pretty hard on you after everything with-" Shawn stopped himself, realizing the potential awkwardness of it all.

"Everything with Sky?" Dave finished, sighing. "Yeah, it's been rough. But I'm trying to move away from it, it's in the past ya know? I'm fine, honest." His friend smiled hearing this, prompting a small smile from Dave as well.

***** Confessional: Dave *****

"Ok, that was a lie. I'm NOT doing fine. Do you have any idea how relentless people have been towards me after that falling out with Sky?" He groaned louder than ever, burying his face into his hands. "Here I am, the VICTIM that had his heart played with all season, and all I ever hear is how everything is my fault! Like yeah, I made my mistakes and should have heard her out more, but cut a guy some slack! Now I can't go a day at school without hearing, 'Hey look, it's friendzone Dave!' 'How's it hanging, Dave the dateless?' 'Watch out everyone, Dave the Incel is coming through!'"

Glaring at the camera, he folded his arms. "What does incel even mean? Totally a made up word. But I am telling the truth when I say I want to move past this. The sooner people stop remembering me just for my thing with Sky, the better."

***** Outside the Confessional *****

As Dave exited the confessional, he bumped into Beardo as he was attempting to leave a message of his own. Being the smaller of the two, the impact knocked Dave to the ground with a grunt.

"W-whoops. Sorry man, didn't know you were in there." Beardo offered a hand to help his teammate up, which he hesitantly accepted.

"Huh, so you CAN talk." Dave dusted himself off. "It's fine, the confessional is all your's."

With his scrawnier teammate returning to first class, the beatboxer looked on with a smile. "Hey, that wasn't so hard. Might just get the hang of these social interactions yet."

However, upon turning around it was Beardo's turn to fall to the ground, as he turned to see Harold suddenly in front of him and the startling of the appearance caught him off guard. Though Harold was smiling and also offered a hand to help him up. "Beardo, right? I've been meaning to talk to you since the season started."

"F-for real?" Beardo replied, flustered since he had spent even less time around the older competitors. "What for?"

"After I saw Pahkitew Island I checked out your album," Harold explained, eyes glowing with excitement. "Now I've always considered myself something of a mad beatbox legend, so take it from me when I say you have some of the maddest skills I've ever heard!"

"You're serious?" Beardo smiled. "Shoot, that means a lot coming from you."

"For sure! I've been meaning to talk to you since I think we could totally make some wicked stuff together." Harold took notice of Beardo's shocked expression. "You know, if you'd want to. Be it with the Drama Brothers or like a purely beatbox album."

***** Confessional: Beardo *****

"Geez, talk about a blindside." He scratched at his afro, looking out the window. "I mean I've always wanted to elevate my music career, but Harold and his boys have been on world tours and junk. This is a lot to take in at once, man."

***** Confessional: Harold *****

"I've got a lot of plans this season. Beardo is probably the most talented musician I've seen on the show since me and the boys, and those sound effects of his could help give us an even more unique sound. And yeah, I think if the two of us made a pure beatbox album, it would be some straight fire." Trying to look cool, he crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. "But even past the band stuff, this is gonna be the season where Leshawna and I finally happen! Groupies are one thing, but no girl has ever stole my heart like her. Add in winning this thing, and I'm seeing big things for me this time around."

***** In Economy Class *****

The unpleasant sound of static filled the room as the intercom roared to life. "Get your game faces on, passengers! We'll be touching down in Kyoto shortly for your next challenge. Look sharp!"

"First Ireland, and now we're going back to Japan? Awesome!" Harold exchanged a high five with Cody. "And this time no Alejandro to mess with my mojo."

"Hopefully this time we actually get to enjoy what the country has to offer," Cody added. "World Tour's Japan challenge was kinda lame."

As the two nerds began a Japan themed conversation that turned to video games and anime, nearby a disgruntled Courtney sighed. Beth and DJ took quick notice.

"So, uh, sorry that we didn't listen to you about the whole Drama Brothers thing," Beth meekly stated, twiddling her thumbs nervously.

"Yeah, we really underestimated the fact that they'd be voting together," DJ added, rubbing the back of his head. "My bad."

Sighing once again, the former CIT shook her head. "It's fine. I know I haven't exactly built up the best reputation over the years so I'm sure you two had reason not to listen to me. We'll just have to keep going and try not to get eliminated now that Izzy is gone."

"But what are we gonna do if they outnumber us?" The geeky farmer was growing more nervous, fearing that she'd be at the bottom of the food chain among her and the other outsiders. "Between the three of them and Leshawna we're kind of screwed."

"We'll worry about that when we come to it. For now we focus on winning so it isn't an issue." Glancing over at the Drama Brothers, Courtney took notice of the still ongoing Japan talk. "We have two Japan loving nerds on our team, hopefully that'll help us out. At the very least, let's hope it gets us to avoid last place."

***** Somewhere in Kyoto, Japan *****

Some time later, the plane had successfully landed at their destination and the contestants were led to the start of their challenge. They found themselves outside a large traditional Japanese looking building, with brown slanted roofing. Chris emerged from off screen, decked out in his best monk attire. This included a black set of monk robes, wooden sandals, and a circular straw hat.

"Welcome to Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan, and the former capital of the country as a whole," the host began, motioning towards the nearby building. "Right now we're at the imperial palace. This building here is where they used to hold all their fancy schmancy state ceremonies before they moved the capital over to Tokyo. You'll actually be visiting a bunch of historical sites like this over the course of the challenge, which will be a spiritual successor to Revenge of the Island's graffiti tagging race."

"You want us to deface beautiful cultural landmarks with spray paint?" Dawn looked both shocked and appalled at the idea. "Surely you can't be serious, the city would never allow you to let us do that."

"You're right, unfortunately. So instead of tagging each landmark with spray paint, you'll instead be planting one of these easily peeled off stickers on team signs at each." Chris held up an example sticker, which depicted the host in a chibi anime style, complete with large eyes and flashing the peace sign. Chef, clad in purple samurai attire, passed out stickers to everyone. Similarly, everyone's stickers depicted them in exaggerated chibi style. While they were mostly flattering, certain details like Dave's chibi self crying and Courtney's depicting her with devil horns earned noises of disapproval.

"Yo, these things are pretty stylin," Anne Maria noted, approving of the curvy features on her stickers. "Can we get some of these to keep?"

"Sure, if you go to the merch website after the season and buy them like anyone else," Chris answered, grinning.

There were some annoyed groans, with Sugar being the one to vocally express her frustration. "Y'all would think they'd treat us better and give us our own merch for free if they're selling stuff that looks like us."

"Bold of you to assume we won't cut costs wherever possible." Whether everyone enjoyed their chibi self or not, once they were all passed out Chris continued his rundown. "You'll be visiting five historic sites where you must place your sticker. First Kinkaku-ji, otherwise known as the Golden Palace. Then Arashiama, the monkey infested bamboo forest. After that we have Nijo Castle, pretty self explanatory, and then Toji Temple which houses the country's tallest pagoda. Finally, you'll end your race at the Fushimi Inari shrine. Ya can't miss it, you'll know you're there when you see a bunch of endless red gates. First team to get all stickers stuck at each site wins first class. And as should be obvious by now, the team that does it last is kicking someone out."

"Didn't we JUST do a race challenge two episodes ago?" Jasmine pointed out, arms folded. "You'd think there'd be a bit more variety before we did another one."

"I'll have you know this one is _totally_ different," Chris insisted, taking a key from out of his pocket and twirling it around his finger. "For example, instead of everyone riding together in a snowmobile, you'll all be riding separately in go karts. But these aren't just any normal go karts, because as you're racing you may see squares with a question mark on the path. Drive over one, and it'll outfit your kart with some sort of weapon. They could be as useful as a bomb, to as useless as a banana peel!"

"Hey, I've actually played this game before," Brick objected. "And those banana peels aren't useless, they take me out all the time!"

Ignoring the interruption, Chris finished up his explanation. "So first things first, all you guys have to do is find the key to your go kart somewhere here at the palace grounds. Once you have the key in hand, you can find the go karts right outside. They're decked out with a GPS so you'll know which way to drive."

"Searching for keys doesn't sound too stressful," Trent pointed out to his team in a whisper, everyone grouped in a huddle. "This should be easy."

"You bring up a good point, Trent," Chris yelled, sticking his head into the huddle and startling the members of Team Old School. "So instead of just letting the viewers watching you key hunt, we'll keep you occupied with something else in the meanwhile."

*** DING DING DING ***

"A'ight, seriously, we should be the last part of the cast that forgets he can jinx us," Leshawna noted, shooting an annoyed side eye Trent's way. The musician could only smile sheepishly.

"Less talking, more singing," Chris commanded with a clap of his hands. "Preferably something Anime-y. Hit it!"

* * *

Harold was the one starting us off, while on screen the flash of a blue circle gave way to a red cloudy backdrop. An outline of the season's logo appeared and faded into the background. _"We are searching for a precious go kart key,"_ he sung quiet and somberly despite the mundane lyrics. On screen the text 'Fresh TV' displayed in white, and above it was the name translated to Japanese.

_"Once we find one then we can drive awaaaay,"_ he continued, now with Leshawna joining him in song. The red background changed to a blue one, and a sort of tree outline appeared. It quickly panned up the tree, each branch leading to a logo of a former Total Drama season with the current season's at the top. The tree quickly faded away, returning to white text that now said 'Project Drama' on the top and the Japanese translation on bottom.

As soon as the two had finished their line, the background went to black as the music swelled with brass accompaniment. In bold white text read 'Total Drama,' and below that in orange was Japanese that translated to 'Battle of the Generations.'

Now it was Trent's turn to sing, and against the backdrop of a blue partly cloudy sky, a faded zoom in of Trent's face looked off into the distance. His face slowly turned to the right as he sung. _"We'll leave the others in awe, while we burn some rubber here in Kyoto."_ Halfway through his line a pitch black Trent silhouette stood towards the right, fading when he finished.

As this all was going on Japanese credits would pop up here and there, though when translated they were all credits towards Chris for things like 'Best Hair,' and 'Hottest Host.' When the Trent silhouette disappeared, two new ones appeared on each side of the screen. On the right floating up was a silhouette of Beardo, and on the left was an upside down one of B sinking down.

_"They'll be in the dust when we go, no time for delay,"_ Beardo sang.

_"WE'LL WIN WITH THE SPEED OF A CHEEEETAH,"_ B added from his singing device.

Trent's face finally faded away, now replaced with another silhouette. This one was a zoom in of Lightning's arm, while the sky background turned a shade of orange. _"Easy win, them losers are slow,"_ the jock sang, his silhouette inexplicably making the circle game symbol, effectively making all viewers at home lose the game. Meanwhile that season tree symbol quickly appeared and faded again.

_"That's big talk when our team keeps winning the day,"_ Sugar pointed out, a faded zoom in of her face similar to Trent's looking forward. To the right of that was one of those black silhouettes of the pageant queen, which disturbingly leaned back in an attempted seductive way. Meanwhile the face of Sugar looked up.

With that horrific sight gone, next was one of the silhouettes of Courtney. She was sat on the ground, her head on her knees and arms wrapped around them. She eventually looked up while a returning Trent head stared off and drifted to the left. _"Is there a key in this pond, or hid behind a bonsai?"_

While Courtney sang the last line alone, Scott joined her for the next. Meanwhile Courtney's silhouette disappeared and a new image appeared of Scott standing behind a window, looking at the camera. _"Or is one hidden up in a tree!"_

Next was a quick succession of different shots. First a zoom in of Scott's eye. Then a shot of the jumbo jet turbine. Next a shot of the jet's side, displaying the aviator Chris symbol. The broken clock in the plane's dining area. Last a shot of Chef pushing the plane's controls forward, making it go into a dive.

_"We'll search here and search there, we'll look high and look low,"_ Beth and Cody sang in tandem, though the visuals didn't match much since we had now moved to a shot of Chef in some sort of body suit and in a bizarre pilot seat. It zooms in on his eyes and he looks up at the camera, determined.

_"Our sleuthing will leave you in awe,"_ sung Jasmine and Shawn together. Meanwhile, some sort of shadowy robot began to rise into frame, with intense glowing eyes. This was followed by four quick shots. First of Beth, adjusting her glasses like an anime villain. Next was Jasmine, giving the camera a determined glare. Afterwards came Cody, with a simple smile. Last we had Shawn, who stoically looked on with no emotion.

It was after these shots that it was revealed the mysterious robot from earlier was non other than the Jumbo Jet, now in mecha form and presumably still being piloted by Chef. It twitched violently, while now Amy and Rodney sung over it. _"Our mind's on the challenge so please mind the singing."_

_"We're making this up as we goooo,"_ added Anne Maria and Dakota, the four of them stretching out the note while the Jumbo Jet mecha seemed to sprout many energy wings.

It was at this point the video portion of the song became almost entirely incomprehensible, being a multitude of back to back quick shots. This started with many shots of the mech, its mouth opening, one arm raising, its eyes glowing, and a shot of its hand covered in blood. But because this was a PG show and realistic blood was no bueno, the blood had been colored pink.

The text 'Chris McLean' flashed on screen while Brick continued the song. _"And yet we push on, no matter what dumb things we say."_ While he sung more rapid fire shots went by. The now bloody foot of the mech. The text 'Jumbo Jet' flashed by. The mecha shot up and seemed to roar. A close up of a creepy Chris mask. The mech standing in the distance behind a fiery foreground. Just straight up the sun. Text saying 'Brilliant Sadistic Host.'

_"We'd rather not sing, but our contracts force us to,"_ DJ continued while more craziness went by. A pan up of an annoyed Courtney. Text that said 'Hot Chicks.' City skyline view of Toronto. Text that said 'Made in Canada.' A shot of the icy Antarctica landscape. A quick red logo that said 'Hot Dudes Too,' followed by shots of Trent, DJ, Shawn, Lightning, and Scott. A shot of Jasmine at the end stopped the combo. Shots were changing so fast at this point that things like the season's map, the first class cabin, some weird eye things, and a shot of a smirking Chris were easily missed.

_"Chris makes these dumb rules, if only he would go away,"_ now sang Sammy. The continued myriad of rapid shots went by. A sinister shot of Amy wearing a visor. A sign fully in Japanese, that when translated rewarded viewers with the message 'Congrats, you wasted your time translating this.' A sketching of Rodney. Some sort of mystery meat Chef meal. A shot of Chris' mouth and hands folded. A new shark like mecha, which was followed by a text screen that said 'Fang.' After that was a purple ape like robot, which then saw the text 'Sasquatchanakwa.' Footage of Dawn looking serious. Sammy wincing, then looking to the side to yell. Shots of DJ, then Harold, then Leshawna. A huge shot of wreckage. The Jumbo Jet mech firing a gun, then an explosion knocking it back. Chris looking on, menacingly.

_"Let's just find these keys, tell this place sayonara,"_ Dave sang as a final burst of back to back shots continued. Dave himself was the first shot, him crying next to a duffel bag. Next was, oddly enough, a pan by of a shirtless Cody. A zoom in on Lightning's necklace. Red text saying 'Boot of Shame.' The glowing silhouette of one of the mechs. The earth itself, being struck by some large impact. Dakota sitting with her arms around her legs, next to a glass of water. A sketch of Trent. One of the mechs glaring at the camera. Text that now said 'Barf Bags.' Anne Maria looking down at the ground seriously. The elimination area. Izzy standing up and looking off into the distance somehow, despite not being in the game anymore. And finally, a sketch of Shawn, with Jasmine to his left and Sammy to his right.

Dawn was the final contestant to have a dedicated line, starting while Japanese text filled the screen that when translated came out to, 'Wow this part took way longer to write that you'd think, didn't it?' The Jumbo Jet mecha struck a pose while a faded image of Chef in the bodysuit came towards the screen, all while Dawn sang. _"Because this is part 1, there's more challenge to get to."_

_"Will it be safe? Probably not but let's pray!"_ The final line was sang by everyone together, with the video portion ending on various shots of Chef. Looking up in determination, crying, shielding his eyes from blinding light, and finally an almost creepy smile.

* * *

With that... ordeal finally finished, we returned to see the entirety of the cast now outside of the imperial palace. They all had keys in hand and had taken their place inside their go karts to await Chris' signal. Some were looking a bit disheveled, with Cody in particular sporting some scratches and bruises.

"And just like that through the power of editing, it looks like everyone has their keys without us having to show you all getting them," the host cheered, joining the cast.

"Wait, you're not going to show any of the key hunt?" Cody asked, flabbergasted. He held out his arm, revealing even more cuts. "I had to go through some serious crap to get mine!"

"Whoa, that's interesting. But I sure don't care!" Promptly ignoring the tech geek, Chris motioned down the road they would be taking. Their GPS' flashed on to reveal their path, leading to the first marker at the Golden Palace. They also noticed a few squares with a question mark along the path, with the first being close enough that they could see it up ahead. On the road, it was merely a painted square.

"Your karts have a sensor on the bottom to know when you've driven over an item block," Chris explained, as if he knew many of them were wondering how this was going to work. "So simply drive over one and you'll be given a random item. Miss the square and that sucks for you, as you'll get nothing."

"We should wait and let the others take the lead," Harold whispered to his team. "In the game you get better items the farther back you are. If we can take them out early it'll hopefully give us a wide enough lead."

"Lets book it and stay on our toes," Shawn directed towards the others. "Things are going to stay hectic and the items could change things on a dime, so we don't really have any reason to dillydally."

Meanwhile with Team Radioactive no one was really making any plans, they all seemed content to do their own things. Only Lightning felt the need to give words of encouragement. "Y'all just be sure to sha-keep up." Well, at least he thought they were encouraging.

"On your marks," Chris started, holding up the airhorn. "Get set. Go kart!"

With a blast of the horn, everyone was off. Teams Radioactive and Explosive took off at high speeds, but per Harold's suggestion Team Old School waited a few seconds before also starting. Things became instantly cramped as the various karts barreled through the streets of Kyoto, even more so as the first item block approached. B and Scott seemed to have the same idea as both rammed Dave and Sammy out of the way respectively just as they were about to drive over the mark, causing them to miss getting an item.

"Not too shabby, Beverly." While Scott had attempted a genuine compliment, B's scowl gave the impression he had missed the mark. "Er, B."

Looking down at his screen, the devious farmer saw that he had been given what appeared to be a green turtle shell as an item. Curious, he clicked an arrow facing backwards which caused his kart to shoot the item behind him. Just as an unsuspecting Dave tried to catch up, the shell came flying back and sent him screeching off track with a yell.

B observed the item usage, noting how things seemed to work pretty much exactly as they did in Mario Kart itself. His screen displayed the banana, so when he looked back as Jasmine behind him preparing to fire a shell of her own, he was ready. Once she fired the weapon, he deployed the banana peel behind him in the nick of time. The shell somehow shattered against the peel, leaving the silent genius none the worse.

In general things were getting chaotic. Shawn had been lucky enough to receive the red shell, so without needing to aim he easily hit Brick in front of him. Anne Maria had been given three of the bananas, which she promptly dumped all behind her. Amy had little time to react before spinning out as she drove over one. Beardo and Dakota both received the triple green shells, and somehow all three of their respective items shattered against the other's as they attempted to hit the other driver.

At the front of the pack was Lightning, who was initially confused when his screen displayed a coin. Sure enough, his kart made a belching sound effect and spat out a coin into the jock's face. It was a simple gold coin with Chris' smiling face on one side and a picture of the Jumbo Jet on the other. Effectively worthless, but he was none the wiser. "Sha-score! Lightning is getting richer already!"

But now chaos was truly about to unfold as the members of Team Old School crossed the item block. While some merely got triple bananas or shells, Cody was the first to get a true game changer. The bomb. Smirking, he lobbed the bomb forward, just missing Sugar who squealed in shock at the explosion.

"Hey! Why the heck didn't this dumb thing give me one of those?"

She didn't have much time to complain as one of Leshawna's three shells nailed the pageant queen in the back, spinning her out. DJ had received three mushrooms, which gave him a wicked speed boost. But Harold was most satisfied, as he was shown an image of a blue spiked shell with wings.

"How are they getting away with using these images without dealing with copyright laws?" he pondered out loud, touching the screen to deploy. "Oh well, enjoy this whoever's in first!"

From the front of his kart it shot the blue shell into the air. Unlike the games it was clearly mechanical of some sort, as it whirred loudly while soaring over the various racers. In particular, Brick looked above in shock. "Uh oh. Lightning, watch your six! Enemy strike is inbound!"

Unfortunately for the cadet his warning fell on deaf ears. Or rather, Lightning just wasn't paying attention to anything other than trying to remain in first. For what it was worth, Rodney was on his tail and keeping him distracted. This was about to end badly for both of them.

"What the heck is that noise?" Rodney asked, looking up in time to see the blue shell hover overhead once it was above Lightning.

"What are you blabbering about back there, country boy?" The turbo jock turned his head to look back at Rodney, but in a flash the blue shell suddenly came careening downward right on top of him. The impact caused an explosion that took out not only Lightning, but Rodney as well. Both boys were knocked to the ground in a daze, their go karts on their sides next to them while they groaned in agony.

"Booyah! A direct hit." Harold exchanged a quick high five with a passing Trent as the squad inched closer and closer to the other teams. Nearby, Courtney smirked mischievously.

***** Confessional: Courtney *****

"Eh, taking out two enemies is alright I guess. But how about taking out all of them?"

***** In the streets of Kyoto *****

Courtney looked down at her screen, displaying a lightning bolt. "Don't look know, guys. I think the other teams just had a change in forecast!" Hitting the item, suddenly everyone on teams Explosive and Radioactive saw a flashing lightning bolt symbol on their own screen. However, this one was much larger and accompanied by a beeping noise.

"This... seems like it's going to suck," Sammy observed ominously. Sure enough, the rapidly increasing beeping came to a climax. Since they had no way to cause actual lightning bolt clouds to appear above everyone, instead all of the karts for Team Radioactive and Team Explosive became electrified. Many screams of pain filled the streets as the electrocuted contestants spun out wildly. This was especially unfortunate for Lightning and Rodney, who had only just flipped their karts back into position and got in.

When it was all said and done, Team Old School had found themselves in the lead. They maintained it all the way to Golden Palace, and as they drove up they noticed three wooden signs planted before the building. Each had a team logo at the top and eight squares, almost all of which were empty save for one spot on Radioactive's sign with a chibi Staci sticker and a similar square on Team Old School's with an Izzy sticker.

"We're killing it," Beth cheered, the first to jump from her kart to slap her sticker into one of her team's squares. One by one everyone else did the same before returning to their vehicle. "Lets keep this up, guys!"

As that team left, the others starting piling in one by one. It became quite cluttered in front of the palace as many karts parked at once while the drivers put their stickers on, turning their vehicles into bumper cars as they tried to get back into the race.

***** Confessional: Dakota *****

"I've played this game with Sam a few times. If there's one thing he taught me about it, it's to not sweat it if you get behind early on. More often than not, things start to go badly for whoever is near the front."

***** In the streets of Kyoto *****

Because the stretch between the palace and bamboo forest was one of the longest of the race, there were two item block spaces en route to the next destination rather than just one. As expected, when Team Old School went over the first one they received mostly standard items. DJ and Leshawna were the least lucky since they just received the coin.

Many opposing team members started to close the gap when they received mushrooms from the item block, but others weren't far behind. Brick raised an eyebrow curiously when his item revealed itself to be a picture of a squid. "Hey, isn't this one kinda useless? What gives?"

Pressing the button anyway, all the opposing team members were alerted with a blinking picture of the item similar to the lightning bolt. But this time, rather than become electrified, a nozzle flipped up from the dashboard and sprayed everyone in the face with ink.

"Gross gross gross," Dave screamed frantically, letting go of the wheel to try and wipe away the ink and sending him off road into a tree. Others from Old School and Explosive got similarly sent off course thanks to the ink in their eyes, which was now putting Team Radioactive near the front of the pack. Cheers were exchanged among the new leaders as they approached the second item block. Meanwhile, after a few seconds had passed a new nozzle appeared for those affected by the ink, spraying them with water to wash it away.

Shenanigans continued to ensue with the second item block passing. Shells were flying, banana peels soaring, bombs flung. Lightning sent a green shell backwards that was getting ready to strike Beardo, but lucky for the beatboxer he had received a star from the item block. Upon clicking it his kart began to glow and a sort of electrified force field surrounded him that protected from any item. The shell shattered harmlessly against the force field, and it also allowed him to drive over a banana peel with no issue. Chuckling at the lucky break, Beardo did a perfect imitation of the Mario star theme for as long as it lasted.

Near the front of the pack Dawn was driving relatively peacefully, using her items mostly to deflect rather than go on the offensive. Suddenly a banana peel was tossed in front of her kart, much too quick for her to react in time. She spun out, looking around to see who the culprit thrower could be. It was only after hearing an animal-like cackle that she gazed up to realize the one responsible was a monkey hanging from the bamboo. As it continued to laugh at causing Dawn's wipeout, more monkeys appeared from within the bamboo. Each threw their own banana peels, raining down on the course in front of the unsuspecting contestants. While some did their best to swerve out of the way, most fell victim to the potassium based assault and swung out of control. The more chaos caused for the teams, the more the monkeys cracked up at watching.

***** Confessional: Dawn *****

"What mischievous creatures," she said with a smile, petting a monkey that had somehow found its way into the confessional with her. "But then again, considering the things monkeys usually like to throw at others, it could have been much, MUCH worse."

The monkey chuckled in agreement, wiggling its eyebrows.

***** In the streets of Kyoto *****

While the drivers did their best to get past the banana littered chaos in the bamboo forest, Team Radioactive found themselves at the front. Perhaps it was due to Dawn's presence, but regardless they were the first to reach the second sign and plant their stickers.

"Three more to go, let's move it along people," Anne Maria cheered on, everyone returning to their vehicles and setting course for Nijo Castle. Team Old School was the next team to reach the forest signs, with Team Explosive not far behind.

"Geez, we're still pretty behind," Jasmine noted, the first of her team to plant a sticker while the others rushed to follow. "We really gotta pick up the pace."

"Well being in last means we should have better items," Sammy pointed out. "So it's not over yet!"

With everyone now on their way to the next checkpoint it was a mad dash to the next item block. Once again the stretch between destinations was long, so two item blocks were passable on the way to the castle. Shells and bananas flew between Team Old School and Radioactive, distracting them while Team Explosive got their turn with the items. Sugar raised an eyebrow when she was given a picture of a fireball. Clicking it curiously, it shot a single fireball forward that harmlessly extinguished when it failed to hit no one.

"Well shoot, it gave me something useless, what a dud!"

"Sugar you can use those over and over," Shawn replied. "Just button mash."

"Oh." Grinning, the pageant queen cracked her knuckles and hovered a finger over the button while the other hand steered. "Out of the way, y'all! Sugar's bout to smoke them harder than a roadkill dinner."

Her teammates complied and veered out of the way from Sugar's wrath. The country girl let it rip and button mashed as hard as she could manage. A flurry of fireballs were shot from her kart, and while many shots missed, the sheer amount of attacks ensured they were hitting the marks. As the fireballs connected to enemy karts it not only spun them out but often ignited clothing, causing the shocked drivers to try and mash out the flames in a panic. Once they were ahead of the pack, Amy dropped a bomb behind her that helped widen the gap as the explosion stopped some of the fire victims from recovering.

Now Team Explosive was at the front when the second item block was passed over. Team Old School was trailing behind, but a certain team member grinned when he noticed how closely together the leading team was racing.

"How nice of them to bunch together so snugly," Cody observed, chuckling as he deployed a blue shell. "Here's a little present for their teamwork."

The blue shell soared through the air, making a beeline for Jasmine as she was the one in the lead. Many of her teammates gasped when they noticed the item hovering above her head, but somehow she could only smirk.

"Sorry, mate," she yelled back, clicking her screen just as the blue shell prepared to explode on top of her. She deployed a loud horn, producing a shockwave strong enough to harmlessly shatter the blue shell and prevent an explosion. "But you'll have to do better than that!"

Unmoved by the enemies, Team Explosive were the first to arrive at Nijo Castle. Crossing moats and going through the inner walls to find the third set of signs in front of a palace building, they quickly planted their stickers and returned to the race. Team Radioactive followed close behind, and Team Old School wasn't far off. While the placements were visible, it was still anybody's race. The stretch to the Toji temple was much shorter than the last two, and as such there was only a single item block. This one had to count.

As the item space approached Team Explosive was at the clear disadvantage. Three of their members got the useless coin as their item, so the others had to make their defensive resources count. Beardo, Beth, Trent, Anne Maria, and Rodney were among those stuck by shells. B was unable to react in time to avoid a banana peel that had been precisely tossed in front of him by Courtney. Even after a lightning bolt from Lightning himself seemed to turn the tides, two bomb throws Sammy and Cody kept things even. As the chaos subsided, things were pretty even and the teams grouped closer together.

***** Confessional: Leshawna *****

"Ya know, I've never been much for video games. But as it turns out, when you go from racing on the TV to doing it in the streets with explosives and crap involved, I can kinda see the appeal."

***** In the streets of Kyoto *****

With everyone pretty much mashed together with no definite team now in the lead, most made it to the Toji temple checkpoint at the same time. The signs were in front of the five story pagoda, and much pushing and shoving was involved as people dismounted to put their stickers on their respective team's sign. All that remained was the finish line checkpoint at the Fushimi Inari Shrine. As it turned out, it wasn't too far away, so only one final item block remained between the contestants and the end of the race.

Of particular note while the racers made their way to the final destination was a chorus of loud cheers coming from the streets. Odd, considering how they had mostly been empty throughout the challenge. The source of the cheers seemed to be from a group of Japanese school girls, all clad in black and white uniforms. They were most excited to see Trent, Cody, and Harold, nearly screaming as they pointed at them.

"It's the Drama Brothers," one with long black hair cheered.

"They're so cool," another with short brown hair added.

"They speak oddly fluent English," Cody pointed out in a whisper to Trent, who nodded in agreement. It was then that the guitarist felt an addition of weight to his vehicle. He looked to his side to find a grinning schoolgirl with pigtails flinging her arms around his neck.

"Marry me, Trent!"

Before Trent could even respond, a banana peel from up ahead somehow came flying back and nailed the girl in the face. She was sent flying from the kart, to who knows where. All Trent could do was shrug. "Welp, guess that takes care of that."

***** Confessional: Trent *****

"Fangirls. Let me tell ya, the life of a music star isn't always so easy. Especially these days after we got back together. Is it me, or were the fans we had last time... more normal? These new ones insist that we keep calling them Stan for some reason? I don't really get it. They keep trying to 'cancel' anyone that doesn't like out music, whatever that means. In general they seem way more ravenous than they used to, way more unhinged than the last batch." He tapped his finger to his chin, looking deep in thought. "Then again, Sierra was one of our original fans, so maybe I just wasn't paying as much attention back then."

***** In the streets of Kyoto *****

Many people were now bumping into enemy team members, trying in vain to send them off course. Glares were sent, insults flung, and tempers flared. Things were almost entirely neck and neck as the final item space approached. Most preemptively hovered their finger above their screens, ready to let loose whatever weapon they got. This would prove to be a mistake as many various shells and peels were shattered before they could be used when two more bombs went off courtesy of Brick and Sugar.

As the smoke settled, anyone with a mushroom immediately used it to jump right back into the fray. Things were mostly still neck and neck, but six contestants in particular now found themselves trailing behind the rest as they had been at the epicenter of the explosions. Exchanging glances, Harold, Leshawna, Scott, Dakota, Shawn, and Jasmine knew the race was coming down to them. And as luck would have it, they all each still had an item.

Finally the Inari shrine approached, sending the racers through countless red gates. The finish seemed to be at the top of the mountain at the site of a former shrine. Things were tense but otherwise quiet as the six racers trailing behind were sizing up the right time to use their final item. Shawn glanced over at his girlfriend, silently mouthing 'What item?' at her. Making sure the others couldn't see her, she silently mouthed back 'Banana. You?' Since Harold now seemed to be looking at them, the zombie nut instead made a subtle zooming motion with his hand to indicate he had a mushroom.

Meanwhile, Harold and Leshawna has tried to communicate through hand signs that they had a green and red shell respectively. Dakota also had a green shell while Scott had a bomb, though neither had communicated as much to the other. With the finish coming up sooner rather than later, it was the sister with 'tude that decided to act first.

"Alright, white boy," she called to Shawn, as he was the one in front of her. "Let's see you try and dodge this."

As she prepared to deploy the red shell, the zombie nut quickly assumed that would be the item she had thanks to her phrasing. "Jasmine, quick, drift in front of me and drop your thing. I have a plan."

"What, getting yourself hit with that instead of her shell?"

"Just trust me, I got this."

Not sure what he was planning but trusting him regardless, Jasmine got in position in front of her boyfriend and dropped her banana moments after Leshawna had sent the red shell Shawn's way. He glanced back to confirm the attack coming towards him and drove straight at the peel. "Three... two... one... now!"

Just inches away from the peel, Shawn steered wildly towards the right before roughly correcting his path. Because the shell had also been mere inches behind him, it didn't have enough time to hone in on Shawn's new direction as it shattered harmlessly against the banana. Once Shawn had corrected his direction and got behind his girlfriend, he deployed the mushroom to push himself into her kart and send them both screeching ahead of the others. The speed boost widened the gap quite a bit, effectively putting them far enough away to ensure they would win before the remaining four.

"Well crap," Leshawna grumbled, looking back to see Scott and Dakota on their tail and her now without an item. "This can't be good."

"Yeah, sorry but you're right." Grinning, Dakota shot her green shell at her opponent. Leshawna braced for impact, only to hear a screech of tires and the sound of a different kart spinning out. Opening her eyes, she saw that Harold had swerved into the shell's path, preventing it from hitting his crush.

"Harold, baby, you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Once he was done spinning out the geek corrected himself and took off. Though he was now solidly at the back of the pack with Dakota and Scott between him and Leshawna. "I've got this, just finish the race."

Nodding, Leshawna focused on making it to the end. By now most from the front of the race had made it past the finish line and planted stickers on the final checkpoint. Shawn and Jasmine were close, and once they did their part it would ensure another victory for their team. By now those that finished were cheering on their teammate, hoping to at least avoid elimination.

"Sorry, dork, but any plans you had to catch up are about to blow up in your face," Scott taunted back at his fellow ginger, grinning wickedly as he prepared to deploy the bomb. Unfortunately for him, the comment gave away too much.

"So you have a bomb for your item, huh?" Harold whispered to himself, a smirk of his own forming. "I can work with that."

Keeping a close eye on Scott's arm, Harold positioned himself behind the former villain. His finger was mere centimeters away from the green shell button, with Dakota and Scott none the wiser as they inched closer and closer to the end. "Almost... almoooooost... now!"

Seeing Scott's arm move towards his screen, Harold acted quick. With his shot lined up perfectly, he sent the green shell careening forward. Scott deployed the bomb, but in what felt like a mere second later, the shell connected with the bomb. With the bomb just barely behind both him and his teammate, the ensuing explosion knocked Scott and Dakota both away. They crashed roughly into one of the vermilion gates, dumping them from their karts and allowing Harold to pass them.

"Booyah! Thanks for the assist with the bomb," he called out, zooming past his opponents while Team Old School cheered from up ahead. While Scott was still dazed and groaning from the impact, Dakota growled in frustration.

"Uggggh, Scott! Why did you have to taunt and let him know you had a bomb?" She chastised her teammate, pushing him away.

"What, you're blaming me for that? How was I supposed to know he could hit the bomb with his own item?" The farmer folded his arms, huffing. "It was a freak accident!"

"Sam would have known better, he's played this game hundreds of times," Dakota shot back, her voice growing louder and angrier.

"Well sorry that I'm not your dang boyfriend." Scott turned his back to his teammate, not noticing as her shadow began to grow drastically. "Seriously, you can't expect everyone to have the same amount of dumb video game knowledge as him. Especially when we're doing it in real life! Like come on, cut me a bre-"

"SHUT. UP." Suddenly, a large orange hand squeezed around Scott and picked him up. He had no time to react as the breath was crushed out of him. Darting his eyes up, he confirmed that he was in the clutch of Dakotazoid now, who looked ahead at the finish like with venom in her eyes. "WE NOT LOSING!"

In a flash, Dakotazoid took off in a full sprint, knocking over many of the red gates as she went. This initially went unnoticed by the others as Jasmine and Shawn had just crossed the finish line and secured their team's victory with their sticker placement.

"And Team Explosive wins... again," Chris announced, ignoring the mix of cheers and groans from the others. "And it looks like Leshawna is up next! Things aren't looking too good for Team Rad... wait, what's causing all that mayhem back there?"

Everyone looked at where the host was pointing, seeing the image of the hulking mutant barreling her way up the mountain at record speeds. Some gasped, while others watched in awe. Leshawna was particularly confused when she crossed the finish line and no one seemed to notice. It was only after she had placed her sticker that she too had seen the cause of their distraction.

"Oh shoot... Harold, watch out!"

Her yell unfortunately went unheard by the geek as the noise of his go kart and the odd rumbling behind him drowned it out. "Finish line is so close I can almost taste it." The rumble became louder and louder, shaking the ground around him. "What the heck is going on back there? They should be out of items."

Harold tried to look back but it was too late, Dakotazoid's massive foot came stomping down on top of him as she had effectively caught up. She didn't even seem to notice that she had stepped on the nerd as she continued sprinting for the finish line. Chris and the others had preemptively dove out of the way to avoid being in Dakotazoid's path. She screeched to a halt across the finish line, finally letting go of Scott. His limbs were mangled in awkward positions, but as luck would have it the arm holding his last sticker was the one facing his team's sign and it barely stuck to the square as his limb body plopped to the ground. Dakota then tried to place her own sticker, though the force from her mutant strength caused the sign to snap in two in the process.

"Yes! We win!" Dakotazoid hopped up and down, fist raised in the air victoriously. Scott could only groan painfully, his body briefly lifting up every time his teammate came back down from her massive jumps.

"Well that was an... abnormal way to finish the race," a dumbfounded Chris finally continued. "But, you can't argue with results! Team Radioactive is safe, Team Old School is sending someone home."

"What? Those two didn't even cross in their go karts," Courtney pointed out, irate. "How is that fair?"

"I never said you HAD to finish in your karts, it just made things a lot easier for you kids." Chris chuckled. "Do you have any idea how long the challenge would have been if you had to walk the whole way? Booooring."

"Oh give me a break, you can take your stupid loopholes and shove them straight up your-"

"Excuse me, but I believe this can wait," Dawn interrupted, suddenly appearing between the arguing host and latina. "I believe the condition of your teammate is the more pressing matter at hand."

Dawn motioned past the other side of the finish line, where Dakota had accidentally stomped on Harold. The mighty step had obliterated the go kart, with bits and pieces of it strewn about the small crater-like hole her foot had left. In the middle of the wreckage was Harold, groaning in agony with his face buried in the dirt and his body bruised up.

"Harold!" Leshawna ran towards her former flame, the rest of their team following close behind. Other contestants looked on in shock, with the most wide eyed being a now reverted Dakota.

"Ugh, my legs! My neck! I think I broke my coccyx! Oh man, it hurts so much."

With each pained sentence from the nerd, more and more eyes of fear turned towards Dakota. All those standing near her gradually scooted away, with the heiress herself having her hand to her mouth as the feeling of dread filled her. The only one who didn't move away was Scott, merely because he currently wasn't in a state to do so.

***** Confessional: Dakota *****

"Crap, crap, crap, CRAP. I was afraid something like this would happen with Dakotazoid." Her face was buried in her hands, and she shook her head in disbelief. "M-maybe it wasn't as bad as it sounded?"

***** Confessional: Harold *****

The dweeb was now in a wheelchair, casts around his legs and a brace surrounding his neck. His left eye was bruised to the point of nearly being closed and an ice pack was being applied to the precious coccyx. "... well this sucks."

***** Confessional: Scott *****

"All I got to say?" the dirt farmer started, lifting up his shirt to show the bruises left on his torso by Dakota's vice-like grip. "Sam, you got WEIRD taste in girls."

***** At the elimination ceremony *****

While there may had still been debates sent Chris' way on the legitimacy of Team Radioactive's safety, at the end of the day it was Team Old School who found themselves at the ceremony. As he was unable to sit in the bleachers, the wheelchair bound Harold merely sat next to them.

"Man, Team Old School, tough break," Chris began in a fake tone of sincerity. "You started out the race so well! Almost even beat Team Explosive to first class. But now here you are, the first team to send a second person home. Twice in a row, no less!"

"I'll have you know I'll be looking into the legitimacy of allowing someone with Dakota's condition to be on one team but not the others," Courtney threatened sternly. "It creates an unfair competitive environment!"

"Yeah, good luck with that." Merely shooting a finger pistol and smirk her way in response, Chris then presented the plate holding six barf bags. "Anyway, may as well get this moving along. Cody, Beth, Leshawna, Trent, and DJ are all safe, since they didn't really do anything to warrant being on the block."

Everyone caught their respective barf bags, no one really celebrating due to the awkwardness of the ceremony. They merely nodded in acknowledgement and looked towards the remaining two without one.

"Harold, you're on the chopping block because you're kinda useless to your team now." He looked down at his wheelchair, sighing in frustration. "And Courtney, you're on the block because you're still kinda a Meanie McBossypants."

"Real mature," she grumbled in contempt.

"But only one of you Killer Bass alumni get to stick around, and that person will be...

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... yeah, no use dragging it out too much. It's Courtney."

Chris tossed the final barf bag to the CIT, but to her credit she practiced restraint and didn't celebrate the safety to rub it in. She merely sighed in relief and caught her bag with no comment.

"GOSH! This is even more unfair than how I went out in World Tour," Harold complained, Chef approaching from behind to strap the parachute to him. Once it was on safely he wheeled the ginger over to the open hatch.

"To be fair, you kinda quit that one on your own there, hombre." Noting the annoyed glares sent his way, Chris put his arms up innocently. "But hey, feel free to say your goodbyes and whatnot."

The rest of Team Old School got up to see Harold off, DJ and Beth being the first to give him a hug.

"Sorry things ended up like this for you, Harold," Courtney said, going for a handshake instead. "Even I'll admit you didn't deserve to go out like this."

"I guess that means a lot coming from you, all things considered." He returned the handshake, smiling. "Thanks."

The outsiders of the team stepped aside to allow Trent and Cody to approach their bandmate next. Neither were particularly affectionate, but both were clearly upset over seeing their friend leave. "Man, this really bites," Trent commented. "I really thought the three of us would go far together this season."

"Take it from me, I know how it feels to get screwed over in an elimination like this," Cody added, patting him on the shoulder. "So I know how frustrating it's gotta be. Still, at least you can help Justin with his album when you get back."

"Pfft, you know he never takes my advice." The three shared a laugh, with Harold looking towards the exit to the rest of the plane. "By the way, I let Beardo know about our offer to have him on board earlier. So if you see him around let him know the offer is still there and junk."

"Can do, bud. Take care." Trent gave his friend a playful punch on the shoulder, he and Cody stepping aside to let the final team member talk to him.

"Tch, Harold baby, you gotta stop getting yourself into these messes," Leshawna chided playfully, both chuckling. "And here I was actually looking forward to spending more time with your scrawny behind this season."

"As much as it stinks to disappoint you, I guess I can take solace in knowing I've left you wanting more," he replied coolly, actually managing to get a blush for his troubles. "But yeah, this is probably the biggest thing that sucks about going so early."

"Whadda ya mean?"

Harold looked towards Cody and Trent, who both flashed thumbs up and motioned for him to continue. "Welp, I may as well get this out there before I go. This was gonna be the season where I tried to make things work between us. You're an awesome friend, but I think you'd be an even awesome-er girlfriend."

"Is that right?" she asked, raising an eyebrow with a hand on her hip and a smirk forming.

"We've beaten around this bush for years now," Harold continued. "And I know we're a lot different. Weird guys like me don't usually date radical girls like you, but I've toured all around the world with my band and I can say with certainty that you're the only one that totally rocks my world."

Leshawna was impressed, her blush deepening. "Shoot, Harold, when did you become such a sweet talker?"

***** Confessional: Cody *****

"He practiced. A lot. Pretty much every Tuesday and Friday on the tour bus he'd go over it again. Plus Trent gave him some advice. Justin too, but his pointers were a bit too focused on Justin himself and that didn't really make sense."

***** On the Jumbo Jet *****

"So yeah, I know things ended pretty shortly when we tried this back in season 1, but how about we give this thing a shot for real this time?"

"Shoo. This is a lot to take in all at once, Harold." Leshawna fanned herself, the watchful gazes of the rest of her team not helping calm down the situation. "I don't know what to say."

"Then how about instead of saying anything," Harold replied without missing a beat, "You give daddy some sugar."

Harold leaned forward, eyes closed and lips prepared. Leshawna followed suite, also leaning towards her rekindled flame. It was as the two were mere inches away from a kiss that the click of a button was heard. His eyes shot open and he gasped, quickly pushing her to the ground. "Look out!"

Only just barely pushing Leshawna out of the way in time, she had narrowly avoided the Boot of Shame that swung down and hit Harold square in the face. The impact sent him rolling out of the hatch, plummeting to the ground below.

"Chris, what the heck man?" Trent yelled, everyone on the team wide eyed at the moment being interrupted.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Leshawna added once she had regained realization of the situation, looking ready to give Chris the beatdown of a lifetime. "I was gonna tell him yes!"

"Yeah, and it was all sooooo romantic," the host taunted in a sickeningly sweet voice. "I was like, so swept up in that moment, oh my gosh you guys... buuuuuut now I'm over it!"

Returning to his trademark cocky grin and cool demeanor, Chris patted Leshawna on the shoulder. "But hey, at least he pushed you out of the way so you didn't get the boot with him. A real gentlemen that guy, he's a keeper. Now get to scooting, I got an outro to do."

Everyone, Leshawna especially, still seemed flustered at the whole situation, but they knew there was nothing that could be done. They reluctantly made their way to economy class, leaving Chris and Chef by themselves in the elimination area.

"That WAS pretty wack just blue balling the situation like that," Chef pointed out, though grinning mischievously.

"I know, I have the best timing ever!" Turning to the camera, the host held up the trusty button that allowed the boot to do its thing. "Will I get to ruin any more moments with the Boot? How will Leshawna recover now that her newly found old boyfriend is gone as soon as they were back on? And seriously, can ANYONE stop Team Explosive from steamrolling the competition? Find out the answers to all of this and more, next time on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

**Voting Confessionals:**

Beth awkwardly stamped Harold's passport, frowning. "This kinda feels wrong, but it wouldn't be fair to anyone else if we kept an injured teammate over them anyway. Sorry, Harold."

"It would be pretty hypocritical of me to vote someone off due to injury considering season 1 for me," Cody pointed out, stamping Courtney's passport. "So I won't do that... but yeah, he's pretty much screwed.

"Is it messed up that I'm kinda relieved this happened?" Courtney looked down at Harold's passport awkwardly before giving it a stamp. "I mean, I'm not happy that it happened like this. Even if it was to him, I don't feel like I really won anything this way. Just got stupidly lucky. But I'd probably be going next if the Drama Brothers weren't separated, so I guess this worked out in the end."

"Man, this is all kinds of messed up," DJ noted as he stamped Harold's passport reluctantly. "I mean, I know me and Beth agreed to try and help Courtney even the odds between us and the others, but it feels cheap doing it like this. Oh well, guess that's life."

Harold grunted as he stamped Courtney's passport, rubbing the back of his neck brace after the fact. "Though I may not have steel claws, I do like to think I have a pretty wicked good healing factor. So hopefully my team lets me stick around and walk this one off. Sure I may have jammed up legs, a messed up neck, and also my coccyx. But that's not enough reason to get voted off... right?"

Leshawna looked on at the Harold passport, almost considering voting for it but ultimately deciding on the Courtney one. "Sorry, I know it ain't fair to Courtney since Harold is injured and it makes more sense to vote him off. But I don't got it in me to vote for the string bean. Shoot, am I falling for his weird behind again? Well at least he isn't springing some crazy confession on me for now. That would be pretty awkward in front of everyone."

After looking back and forth between the passports for Harold and Courtney, Trent eventually sighed and stamped the one belonging to his bandmate. "I'm sorry, Harold, but it's only going to injure you worse if you stick around for more challenges in this state. Really sucks too, because I know he was gonna ask out Leshawna again soon. Maybe he'll luck out and everyone else will vote out Courtney instead?"

Votes for Harold: 4 (Beth, Courtney, DJ, Trent)

Votes for Courtney: 3 (Cody, Harold, Leshawna)

**After the Boot of Shame:**

Harold struggled a bit to deploy the parachute, grunting in pain when he finally got it to go as it agitated his neck. While rubbing it, he looked on at the camera with a wince. "You know, when guys like me say we want monster girls to step on us, I don't think we really take into consideration just how much it'd ACTUALLY hurt. Gosh."

He sighed, leaning back in his wheelchair while the parachute floated him down. "I guess things could have gone worse. I was totally about to score me some sugar before Chris had to go and do a guy dirty like that. What's that guy's problem? Duncan and Gwen kiss and it's good for ratings, but I can't even have mine? Talk about picking favorites."

"Anyway, I'm starting to think me and Japan together is cursed. First Al tricks me into quitting last time, and this time I get taken out by injury due to a kaiju? I can't catch a break here. I guess all I can do is go heal up, maybe hang with Justin, and hope Leshawna is still up for giving things a shot when the season is over. Or if she gets eliminated. Whatever comes first."

With that all said, he finally harmlessly came to a stop on a random Kyoto sidewalk. He removed the parachute with ease, looking around in shock. "Huh, a normal landing with nothing gross or injury inducing waiting for me? Maybe my luck is turning around already!"

Perhaps instantly regretting his jinxing words, he was caught off guard by an ear shattering chorus of screeches. He looked nearby to see the group of Japanese fan girls, now tripled in size. "It's one of the Drama Brothers! Get him!"

"And I spoke too soon. GOSH!" With all his might, Harold furiously wheeled away from the mob, looking on at the camera desperately. "Leshawna, if you're watching I know this may look bad, but call me-" He was unable to finish his sentence as he had to scream and increase his speed to get away from the rabid fan girls now chasing after him.

**Remaining Contestants:**

Team Old School: Beth, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Leshawna, Trent

Team Radioactive: Anne Maria, B, Brick, Dakota, Dawn, Lightning, Scott

Team Explosive: Amy, Beardo, Dave, Jasmine, Rodney, Sammy, Shawn, Sugar

**Elimination Order:**

22nd: Harold

23rd: Izzy

24th: Staci

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that catches up the story here with what I've written thus far. For any potential readers here that aren't on FFN, yo! I've been writing for this fandom for quite some time now but I've been told to also post here on more than one occasion and decided to finally get around to it. This is my current ongoing main project and is a comp fic I'd been planning for quite some time. If you've read to this point obviously you can see the general themes of it all, a sequel to both World Tour and All Stars, with a generations theme rather than heroes vs villains.
> 
> The cast selection was largely as how Chris communicated it in the first chapter. The ROTI crew was always set in stone and never changed, it's the 6 people that didn't compete in All Stars plus two dudes that did. Mike and Cameron were easy to dismiss since they were major players in both seasons and have a mixed reception in the fandom. Lightning meanwhile was the first of his cast to go in All Stars, and he's funny, so he was an easy pick. Scott was chosen over Sam for having more storyline potential, and to explore things like Dawn and B trying to trust him.
> 
> PI's cast only went through one change. Shawn, Jasmine, Amy, Sammy, Beardo, and Dave were always making the cut for various reasons, be it for wanting to continue a storyline (Amy and Sammy) or to develop on them (Beardo). Meanwhile there will be Aftermath chapters where Topher and Ella were the hosts I decided upon, so they were out. I like Max and Scarlett, but it didn't make sense to me that they'd be invited back. That left Rodney or Leonard to choose from for the final male slot, and Rodney just felt more fitting to me. But originally I had Sky in the finale female slot, to explore the fallout between her and Dave after the PI finale. But I eventually dropped that and replaced her with Sugar, the cast needed more assholes.
> 
> As for the original cast, Harold, Leshawna, Cody, Izzy, and DJ were always locks since I considered them the biggest All Stars that weren't in the titular season. I later added Courtney to the mix since I wanted to try and redeem her a bit after feeling she was derailed in her final All Stars episode. Geoff and Bridgette originally rounded out the cast, but Geoff was dropped due to already getting exposure via Ridonculous Race, and Bridgette was cut soon after. She was quickly replaced with Beth, while Geoff's slot was a toss up between Justin and Trent. I originally leaned towards Justin, but ultimately decided Trent had more development potential and went with him.
> 
> As for the eliminations thus far, Staci was just easy fodder. She's a very gimmicky character that you have to go out of your way to develop on, so it was an easy cut. Izzy was just an unfortunate victim of me needing to eliminate a non-Drama Brother alliance character that chapter, and her zaniness made for an easy out. And now most recently Harold, who is actually my favorite TD character. This probably won't make sense if you're not a FFN user, but over on that website I've written two major comp fics where Harold is a main character in both that makes it to the final four in them. So while he could have stuck around, I wanted to try spreading the love to more new characters, so he unfortunately had to eat an early boot.
> 
> I'll also quickly note the singing, which as Chris said will be in every other episode. I've not decided their presence in Aftermath chapters yet, so they don't factor in to the order. Each song will be a sort of parody of an existing one to make writing them easier on me. The song in Antarctica, 'This Fricken Blows,' was an obvious 'Let It Go,' parody. This chapter's, 'A Cruel Host's Thesis,' was a parody of the Evangelion opening. Because you know, they were in Japan, had to do the definitive anime theme. I should also note B's singing device, he was obviously a character that posed a problem for a season involving singing. Since I didn't want him to actually talk, I went with him creating a singing device that makes a sort of Microsoft Sam voice. It's purposely crappy and fragile so he has a storyline reason to only use it during singing, it would be too much of an asspull to let him have free communication with the others. He just needs it to not get disqualified, that's it.
> 
> So there's the spark notes version of my author's notes from the four chapters. I'm excited to see any potential new feedback or comments I may get here going forward! I'll also get around to porting over some of my other stories, but as noted previously I'll take my time on that as I don't want to flood the Total Drama page with too much of my stuff in a row.


	5. A Hoedown Hootenanny

"Previously on Total Drama Battle of the Generations," Chris narrated from within the cockpit with Chef. "We touched down in Kyoto for a go kart race unlike any other! There were explosions, bananas, and a whole lot of chaos. Our teams kept vying back and forth for the lead, but in the end it was once again Team Explosive to race into first place. Meanwhile, Team Old School found themselves in the elimination ceremony once again after Dakotazoid stepped on Harold's parade. To add insult to injury, literally, the now wheelchair bound nerd was voted off. But not before rekindling things with his former flame Leshawna, giving your's truly the perfect opportunity to ruin their moment."

Chris laughed as the clip played of Harold being kicked off the plane right as he and Leshawna were going to kiss. "Man, I love this job! Where will the contestants find themselves next? Can Dakota keep her anger in check? And who will be the next one voted out? Find out tonight, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

***** Opening Credits *****

With Scott, Dawn, B, and Brick off to the cargo hold for their usual zombie search with Team Explosive, only Dakota, Lightning, and Anne Maria remained in economy class. The girls sat in an awkward silence while Lightning did push ups on the nearby floor.

"Yo, can one of you keep count for The Lightning while he's doing his thing?" he asked, not slowing down from the workout. "Gotta have my mind in the game, so Lightning ain't got no sha-time for algebra."

"Yeah yeah, you're at like fifty or something, just keep going." Anne Maria didn't look up from her nails, mostly channeling out the occasional grunts and commentary from the jock. But a sigh from Dakota caught her attention. "Hey, you doing alright?"

"No." The heiress slumped back into her seat, looking on in shame. "I feel horrible about what happened with Dakotazoid. Even if it was an enemy team member, the fact that I actually got someone injured is eating me up inside."

"Ah. Yeah, I can see why that'd be bugging ya." Putting away the nail file, now it was time for the Jersey girl to switch to eyeliner as she went about her touch up routine. "Well hey, look on the bright side. It helped get us the win! Plus, maybe that ginger guy didn't get it too bad. Might not even have got eliminated."

On cue, Team Old School finally began filing their way into economy class. There was an awkward silence, with Dakota and Anne Maria both observing that Harold was now the only one missing from the group. As they sat down, Leshawna in particular was giving the mutant a death stare that felt like it could melt through steel.

"Er... nevermind." Anne Maria chuckled awkwardly, frowning when Dakota could only sigh in shame.

***** Confessional: Dakota *****

"Uuuugh, I can't believe this! I came back to the show to try and make new friends, it got pretty hard doing that when you're stuck as a giant monster at all times. But after this everyone's just going to be intimidated around me, and I'm PRETTY sure Leshawna hates my guts now. Maybe I can try and patch things up with her?"

***** In Economy Class *****

Unable to further stew in the awkward environment, Dakota sucked in a breath and walked over to Team Old School's bench. Anne Maria wanted to warn of it being a bad idea, but was too slow to stop her. Leshawna's glare stayed firmly pointed directly into the blonde's eyes as she approached with an optimistic smile.

"Hey, uh, Leshawna. I just wanted to apologize about everything that happened." She looked around at the other Old School team members who were watching the interaction curiously. "To all of you. I know it's a competition, but I didn't mean to injure your friend like that. So I'm really really sorry."

"Uh huh," was all Leshawna would reply with.

"And since we got off on the wrong foot, I was hoping we might be able to start over," Dakota continued. "You and I are both fashionable gals, plus we seem to have a pretty similar taste in guys. I think we could be really good friends."

"Show me one person who asked, white girl." Not missing a beat when the heiress recoiled at her response, Leshawna kept it up. "Also for the record me and Harold ain't just friends now, but I won't get to enjoy that fact until after I'm done winning this damn show. So for the time being? Leave me alone."

Dakota tried to open her mouth for a response, but an intensified glare from the darker skinned girl was enough to convince her it was futile. She returned to her seat in shame, others in the room cringing at the awkwardness of the exchange.

***** Cockpit Confessional: Leshawna *****

Taking in a deep breath, Leshawna let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. "Look, I get it. Dakota didn't injure Harold on purpose. I don't know what it's like having her condition, I figure it must be hard to control stuff like that. So over time I'll cool off and drop my grudge. But for now, can't a sister be salty in peace?"

"It WAS pretty cold how you clapped back at her," Chef noted from the pilot seat, not noticing the offended reaction he got in response.

"She put my man in a damn wheelchair!"

"Ah, so maybe you're just jealous that another girl got to crush him underneath her. Nerds like that do tend to enjoy crazy monster chicks." Sensing danger, Chef turned around in a panic as he instantly regretted his word choice. An incensed Leshawna rolled up a sleeve, stomping towards the older man. "Now hold up, I was just joking!"

She pulled back her arm for a punch but the camera transitioned away before any sort of impact was seen.

***** In the Common Area *****

Sometime later everyone was beginning to enjoy their breakfast, or at least as much as they could manage. Courtney joined DJ and Beth at a table, the rest of their team still in the process of getting their food.

"Crazy how everything went down, ain't it?" DJ said quietly, going for a vegan friendly option with his breakfast. "I guess we should feel lucky, but I still kinda feel bad."

"Yes yes, what happened to Harold really sucked for him," Courtney agreed haphazardly. "But now that he's out the playing field is back to even for us. And if we can rope in Leshawna away from Trent and Cody? We'll have successfully turned the tables."

"I don't know, her and Trent have been pretty good friends since season 1 too," Beth pointed out. "It might be pretty hard to get her to vote against them."

"Well if we have to take out chances in a tiebreaker I suppose Cody would be the best bet for who we can beat if it comes to that."

As the CIT continued whispering her plans to her sorta kinda allies, a certain dirt farmer couldn't help but take notice of the conversation. He took a seat next to Courtney, startling the members of the enemy team.

"Ya doing some plotting over here, Court?" He asked slyly, grinning through the annoyed glare his former flame was giving him. "Ya know, I think I'm starting to get in good with some of my teammates, so if you wanna start an inter-team alliance I'd be pretty down to-"

"Not interested, Scott. Go away." Seeing him about to reply, Courtney jabbed a finger into his chest and raised her voice. "Go. Away!"

Scott held up his hands defensively, quickly grabbing his tray and retreating to his own team's table. Courtney's teammates could only watch in amused confusion at the interaction.

"So what's the deal with you two?" Beth asked. "Are you like on a break or-"

"We were never really ON at all," Courtney tried to correct. "Didn't you watch All Stars? It was all an act. I didn't really have feelings for that gross farm boy, it was purely strategic to earn his loyalty."

"See you say that, but you were even talking about how you liked Scott when he wasn't around," DJ pointed out, he and Beth forming grins of their own as she grew more flustered. "Even in the confessional where literally no one else could hear you."

The Latina stammered a bit, going over excuses in her mind that would make enough sense. Eventually one stuck out. "Well, duh! What if he got voted off and got to watch the episodes at home? If they did another finale where the others voted on the winner, or if I needed helpers for the last challenge, I would still need to ensure his cooperation."

DJ folded his arms. "Mhm, sure."

***** Confessional: DJ *****

"If that was the case, she never woulda made that confessional about her chart that shot herself in the foot. That thing lost her Scott AND Gwen's support. She ain't fooling nobody, she's still into that dude. Wonder why she keeps denying it so much?"

***** In the Common Area *****

Just as breakfast was finishing up, Chris strolled in with a certain mischievous smirk that could only mean a challenge was imminent. "Well if it isn't my favorite people to terrorize. If any of you are sufficiently homesick at this point after visiting three different continents, you're in luck! We're heading back to the Americas. Specifically, today we're heading down south."

"Oh cool, something in South America?" Brick smiled enthusiastically. "Where to? Brazil, maybe Chile?"

"No, we're keeping it to North America for now," the host corrected. "We're just heading south."

"So, Mexico?" Shawn asked, scratching his head.

Chris facepalmed. "Perhaps I should be more clear going forward. We're going to the United States. Specifically the south as a backdrop for today's challenge." He retrieved a pair of legally distinct mouse ears from out of his pocket to place on his head. "We're heading over to the happiest town on Earth. Or so they say, at least. Orlando! Nestled in Florida, it's home to countless tourist destinations that'll make an excellent playground for today-"

"Uh, Chris?" Chef whispered, running up to his companion in the middle of his briefing. He was currently sporting a black eye courtesy of Leshawna. "We... don't have enough fuel to get to Orlando."

"Seriously? Didn't we JUST have this problem?" Chef could only shrug and smile innocently. "Fine, whatever. Plan B!"

Throwing away the mouse ears, Chris reached back into his pocket to pull out a purple and yellow bead necklace. He slipped it on and resumed his speech. "So, change of plans. We'll actually be heading to New Orleans! Not only does Louisiana specialize in gators and gumbo, it knows how to throw a wicked sweet party! So today-"

"We don't have the gas to make it to New Orleans either," Chef hesitantly interrupted once again.

Chris could only sigh, tossing away the beads and putting on a sheriff hat that resembled the one worn by the main character from that one zombie show. "Okay, Plan C! Atlanta is known by many as the birthplace of the world's most famous soda, but for today's challenge-"

This time without saying anything, Chef meekly leaned forward. Sighing, Chris gave his cohort a side eye. "Not enough gas for Atlanta either, eh?" Chef shook his head. "Please tell me we at least have enough gas for Plan D."

After looking off to the side, Chef nodded and gave a thumbs up.

"Alright, Plan D it is. At least I have a good outfit for that one." Chris and Chef both walked off, leaving the contestants confused since they had just watched the back and forth awkwardly the whole time. "And get me the intern in charge of keeping up with the fuel! Him and the Boot of Shame are about to have a nice long talk."

Once they were gone and the cafeteria was left in silence, everyone else could only look around in further confusion. "Soooo, is he gonna tell us where we're going or what?" Trent asked, receiving no answer.

The camera view switched to outside the jet as it began to make its descent. It passed by a weird looking skyscraper that resembled Batman's cowl, a building housing a giant musical stage, and a street full of BBQ joints playing live music among other locals. It eventually landed in the middle of a park with everyone being herded outside. When Chris joined them, he was clad in an Elvis Presley getup complete with a wig and rhinestone covered white jumpsuit.

"Somehow that outfit suits you," Cody said among the chorus of chuckles.

"Thank ya," Chris replied with a bad Elvis impersonation, gyrating his hips and striking a pose for added effect. "Thank ya very much."

That done, he cleared his throat and returned to his normal speaking voice. "Welcome to Centennial Park, right here in Nashville. Capital of Tennessee, and known for its copious amount of barbecue joints as well as having a rich history with the music industry. Granted a lot of that history is with country music, but hey, they can't all be winners."

"If we're in Tennessee, then how come there's the Italiano thingy over there?" Sugar asked, pointing a finger at a nearby building. It was a recreation of the Parthenon, exactly like the one in Athens. "I don't think that doohickey is supposed to be American."

"It's just a recreation, Sugar. I have no idea why they felt the need to recreate the Parthenon in the middle of Tennessee, but at least it'll make a neat backdrop for today's challenge. And on that note, let's explain the rules! We're going to be putting on a genuine southern county fair."

Chef, now clad in overalls and a cowboy hat, rolled out a chalkboard that had been divided into three columns. At the top of each column was one of the team logo's. Sugar cheered at the announcement of the challenge theme, while Scott, Rodney, and Beth also looked varying degrees of stoked.

"To put on this fair, we'll be having you all compete in various mini challenges. For each one, you'll nominate one person to represent your team. If you win a challenge, you earn your team three points. Being the runner up gets you 2 points, while losing obviously only gets you a single point." As he explained things, Chris noticed Sugar absolutely giddy with excitement. "And since I'm sure some of you are a bit more eager than others for the competition, we have a few extra rules. Most importantly, every member of the team must compete in a challenge. Only after everyone has gone can a teammate go again. As you can probably assume, the team with the most points at the end wins first class. The team with the lowest amount of points sends some sorry jerk off the plane."

"What if there's a tie?" Beth asked with her hand raised.

"A tiebreaker has been set aside if it's needed," Chris confirmed. "So that about covers it, feel free to talk strategy while we prepare the first challenge."

Both Chef and Chris left to ensure things were ready. Murmurs broke out among the respective teams, though the whispers between Team Old School were the most serious.

"Alright, we're down two people so we really need to pull this thing off," Trent said to the others, receiving various nods in agreement. "Even if we just get 2nd, as long as we make sure we don't have to send someone home for the third time in a row."

"Having the smallest team may actually work to our advantage," Courtney added. "We'll be able to double up on challenges the quickest, so we'll be able to more strategically plan out who should do what."

Meanwhile with Team Explosive, it was clear one particular teammate was more excited than anyone else.

"I've been to more county fairs in a year then any of y'all have been in yer lives combined." Sugar pointed her thumb at her chest. "I should go first. Strike some fear into the rest of them losers by showing them how outta their league they are."

"If you're the most experienced with these things we can't just pick you right off the bat when we may need you for something else," Shawn pointed out. "We need to use you for a challenge we know you'll win for sure, and that probably won't be the first one."

"Alright, the first challenge is going to be a blueberry pie eating contest," Chris announced through a megaphone. "Send up your reps and let's chow down!"

Everyone looked on, befuddled, with Sugar's smug grin being the only exception. Shawn shrugged. "I stand corrected, go get em Sugar."

A long table had been placed atop a platform, with a chair on each end and in the middle. In front of each chair was a ludicrous pile of pies, probably at least 30 for each person. Sugar had begun drooling in anticipation, while she was joined on stage by Leshawna and Brick. The former cracked her knuckles at the challenge ahead, while the later limbered up a bit.

"Whoever eats the most amount of pies after 60 seconds takes the win." Chris held up a stopwatch, peering over the three contenders before starting the clock. "Begin!"

Mere moments after Chris' sentence finished, it was already over before it had begun. Moving with an abnormal speed she wasn't usually known for, an inhuman noise came from Sugar as she shoveled pies into her gullet as if they were nothing. Brick had barely taken a bite from his first pie as he watched on in horror, both tantalized and repulsed by the pageant queen's display. Somehow she began making the noise of a vacuum cleaner, inhaling pies as if it was simple as breathing air itself.

***** Confessional: Brick *****

"Ya know, I couldn't really explain it in words, but there's something about Sugar that absolutely terrifies me. I feel like she'd be able to eat another human with ease so long as they're covered in BBQ sauce. Needless to say, it is NOT comforting seeing her on enemy lines in the battlefield."

***** In Centennial Park *****

Sugar was almost entirely done with her pie pile by the time Brick had finally snapped out of it and finished his first. Leshawna was past 4 pies, but neither of them could hope to keep up with an absolute unit like Sugar. Soon enough she had consumed all of the pastries in front of her, with 20 seconds still on the clock to spare.

"That's it?" She asked, annoyed. "Y'all ain't got no more for me?"

Chris and Chef exchanged looks of unnerved confusion. "You say that like we actually expected any of you to be able to finish the whole pile. Seriously, there's something actually wrong with-"

"Well I ain't done yet, I can eat more!" Not waiting for permission due to her Lovecraftian hunger not yet being quenched, Sugar bowled over Brick and proceeded to devour the rest of his pies. A fearful looking Leshawna was able to dive out of the way just in time to avoid also being pushed aside when Sugar continued to inhale her pies as well. Other contestants could merely watch in awe as Sugar made the entire spread of deserts disappear.

After giving a satisfied burp at a job well done, Sugar finally sat down in time for the stopwatch to reach zero.

"Despite the fact that she wasn't supposed to eat the pies from anyone else, I guess the results were pretty locked in even if she didn't speed up the process." Chris turned to the chalkboard, drawing three lines under Team Explosive's column. Two lines were drawn under Team Old School's, and only a single line under Team Radioactive. "Sugar won with ease, while Brick did the worst. Leshawna was in the middle of the pack. I'll remind the teams those three can't compete in the next challenges until their whole team has gone. Up next? Pig racing!"

"Aw come on, I love piggies!" Sugar huffed as she jumped down from the stage, arms folded in disappointment. "Stupid rules."

"Beardo, think you could make pig noises to get your's to cooperate?" Jasmine asked, raising an eyebrow at the beatboxer. "Other than Sugar I don't think any of the rest of us would particularly excel at that one."

"Fo sho." He gave a thumbs up, doing a convincing pig squeal to prove his capability.

Meanwhile with the Radioactive crew, things were proceeding less cooperatively.

"What do you mean ya can't do it?" Anne Maria asked a defiant looking Dawn. "It's animals! Isn't vibing with them your whole shtick?"

"Making them race against their will for our own enjoyment is most certainly NOT part of my _shtick."_ She used air quotes on the last word for emphasis. "Quite honestly, I find the idea of this challenge absolutely demeaning to those poor pigs."

"Pfft, if creepy girl don't wanna do it then Lightning's got this," the first person speaking jock said, stepping up to the scene.

"And what do you know about pigs?" Scott asked.

"Nothin. But Lightning knows all about racing, and he knows all about winning. You ask Lightning, that's a good combo right there!"

No one really had any better ideas on who should go if Dawn was refusing, so Lightning was sent ahead. The second challenge took place at a makeshift muddy race track that was contained within a pen. Hurdles of various heights were spread throughout between the starting point and finish line, and the track seemed to get muddier as it progressed. Three large pigs awaited at the starting point, one of which was caught off guard when Beth ran up to pet it like a dog.

"Awww, they're so adorable!" She scratched behind her pig's ear, making it roll over for a belly rub. "You remind me so much of Big Bertha!"

While Beth continued showering her pig with affection, Lightning and Beardo took their positions behind their's. The pig was decently large, but the beatboxer couldn't help but look at it nervously when comparing himself to the more lean Lightning and smaller Beth.

"This... might not have been the best idea."

An airhorn was blown, prompting everyone to jump on to their pigs. While Lightning and Beth took off with little issue, Beardo's worries were proven to be valid as his pig struggled to carry his weight. It was progressing at a significantly slower rate than the others, even as its rider began making pig noises in an attempt to communicate and make it stop lagging behind.

Things stayed close between Lightning and Beth, but the later's pig began inching ahead since it had less weight to carry. The farm girl continued to pet her mount's head and whisper words of encouragement to keep its spirits up. But Lightning? He had a different plan.

"Shoot, I ain't about to lose a race to some nerdy girl." Out of nowhere, Lightning whipped out his container of protein powder. Holding on with just his legs, he was able to scoop out some powder and hold it in front of the pig's face. "We need to get this show on the road, piggy. Take some of this, it's how Lightning stays winning!"

Curious, the pig licked up the powder from the scoop, still clearing hurdles as it did. Its eyes went wide, instantly feeling invigorated with energy since that was totally how protein powder worked. "Oh you like that? Get Lightning the win and there's more where that came from!"

Nodding in understanding, the pig increased speed, closing the gap that Beth's had made. But now even Beardo was catching up, hanging from his pig's tail and covered in mud as it wildly ran towards the finish line.

***** Confessional: Beardo *****

"I got no idea what happened! One moment I'm just trying all these pig noises to get the thing moving, then the next moment it freaks out, bucks me off into the mud, and takes off like a madman. I think I might have accidentally said something that scared it? Wouldn't know, I don't speak pig."

***** In Centennial Park *****

Between the efforts of all three contestants, the race was becoming neck and neck. For Beardo's pig in particular, the beatboxer had to brace himself as he banged into each hurdle it jumped over. But at the end, edging out by just a snout, Lightning's pig crossed first just before Beth's.

"Sha-score!" Lightning vaulted off his mount, soaking in the cheers from his teammates. He scooped the pig a fresh batch of protein powder, which hopefully wasn't unhealthy for it to eat. "That's what Lightning's talking about! Eat up, piggy bro."

"It's ok little guy, you did your best," Beth reassured her own pig, petting it gently. As for Beardo, he could only groan as his pig dragged him across the finish line, with Shawn and Jasmine coming over to check on him.

"And with that, we have a tied score at four points each," Chris announced, Chef updating the marked below the icons to reflect as much. "And since we're on a roll with animals right now, our next challenge will be chicken herding!"

Many of Dawn's teammates looked at the aura reader expectantly. She sighed, nodding in acceptance. "I suppose if all I'm doing is leading them into the right direction and not having to ride them like with the pig, I have no problems doing that one."

Over with the Team Old School, the most animal inclined teammate was also receiving looks from everyone. Though many of these were ones of concern.

"You sure you wanna do this, DJ?" Leshawna asked skeptically. "No offense, but after World Tour I'm surprised to see you actively wanting to interact with animals."

"I put all that curse garbage behind me, the stuff stopped after World Tour was over." DJ looked on confidently, chin held high. "So yeah, I got this. I'm probably our best bet to pull it off."

The three representatives were led into a large square pen where a heard of chickens awaited in the center. On the three opposite sides were doors that led to smaller pens, each with a team flag to signify where they needed to herd the chickens to. DJ and Dawn were joined, surprisingly, by Amy. Apparently she had volunteered herself for what she deemed an easier challenge as bossing things around was one of her fortes.

Once again the challenge was prompted by the blow of Chris' air horn, which itself startled the chickens and made them scatter. Amy immediately began rushing at a group of the fowls, yelling for them to get moving and having little success. Meanwhile DJ and Dawn opted for more gentle approaches.

"Good afternoon, lovely creatures," Dawn cooed, kneeling down to meet the birds face to face. "I'm sorry if that mean blonde girl is causing you all any distress. Come, I'll take you all away from her where it's safe."

As she started walking towards her teams safe zone with a line of chickens following her, she took notice of DJ crouching down and offering his hand at one of the chickens to show he meant no harm. "It's ok, little chick, I ain't gonna hurt ya. Wish I had some veggies to feed y'all."

A group of the chickens began nuzzling up towards DJ, some even hiding behind him for protection as the still yelling Amy ran by while she continued pursuing her group. Just as DJ turned to head towards his team's zone, he yelped upon seeing Dawn standing right in front of him.

"It's rare that I get to see someone else so in tune with mother nature's creatures. I had heard from some of the others that you and animals don't mix well, but from what I can tell they seem to be at ease around you."

DJ raised a confused eyebrow, taken off guard by her calm smile. "Oh, did ya not watch Wold Tour? Well, it's a long story but I was able to move past it. I've always loved animals, I guess. I make sure to take it extra gently around them ever since that season."

"It shows! Your affection for animals is perhaps the second most pronounced aspect in your aura, only behind your simultaneous love and fear of your own mother."

The brick house was taken even more off guard from that comment, recoiling while Dawn was none the wiser to how the situation had been made awkward. An impatient Chris watched on from the sidelines, annoyed that no chickens had successfully been corralled since at this point Amy was now being swarmed by the chickens.

"Yo dudes, you remember the whole challenge thing?" He called out. "Yeah, it's on a time limit you know. Move it!"

Dawn and DJ refocused, going their separate ways to lead their chickens towards their team's pens. By the time it was all said and done Dawn had corralled the most chickens by far, but DJ had placed at a respectable second. Amy had only managed to get a measly two chickens in her pen by the time the challenge ended, simply because she could carry one by the feet in each hand. She coughed up feathers, grunting in annoyance.

"Looks like Team Radioactive takes the lead, though Team Old School and their current 0 wins isn't far behind in points," Chris announced while the chalkboard was once again updated. "Let's keep this thing moving!"

A flash forward showed a quick version of the next challenge. Shawn, Trent, and Anne Maria found themselves inside a large spinning carnival ride, strapped to the wall as they spun around at increasingly crazy speeds. The challenge was simply to be the last one standing without throwing up. All three tried to hold strong, but it was ultimately the jersey girl that lost her lunch first. Trent and Shawn locked eyes, daring the other to go. But when Anne Maria's projectile vomit ended up spinning back around to nail the musician in the face, Trent lost his composure and gave Shawn the win. Of course, once Trent's puke found its way to Shawn, he no longer could hold back as well.

The next challenge was simply to churn butter. Courtney, Dakota, and Jasmine took their places behind an old timey wooden churner, hands at the ready on the wood sticks. Once the signal was given, they had a minute to churn as fast as possible. But while all three gave their best efforts, Jasmine was by far the fastest. She went to town on the churn at breakneck speeds, at one point even stopping to spit into her hand and increase velocity.

It was after she continued churning like there was no tomorrow when everyone began looking straight at Shawn. Even Scott, who had at first been fixated on Courtney's churning, eventually took note of the Aussie's speed and sent a stare Shawn's way. The zombie nut could only blush and chuckle awkwardly. Beardo at one point elbowed him, giving a thumbs up and click sound.

Needless to say Jasmine had won by the end of the challenge, with Courtney as the runner up and Dakota in last after she too had gotten distracted. Though the outback girl had no idea why everyone was staring at her when she returned to her team.

"Up next we have a carnival game," Chris announced while Chef updated the new tallies. Team Explosive was now in the lead, with Team Radioactive trailing behind. "And by process of elimination, Cody has to do this one for his team!"

The tech geek earned some words of encouragement from his team, while B was easily nominated to represent his own. Team Explosive had the widest variety of people to still choose from, but Sammy was ultimately the one to volunteer. Once they were all picked, the trio was brought to three carnival game stands complete with fluffy plush toys hanging from the walls as prizes. On the back walls were various balloons of differing sizes, and on the shelf in front of them were darts.

"Pop as many balloons as you can until you're out of darts," Chris explained. "Try not to hit any of us with the darts while you're at it, we don't want to lose another contestant due to injury. The smaller the balloon, the more points they're worth. You have two minutes to complete the challenge... begin!"

Immediately B took a close inspection of his dart. Looking it over carefully and fiddling with it in his hand, he pointed it down and tossed a dart repeatedly into the shelf to get a feel for the best way to throw it. After then licking his finger to get a measurement of the wind, he was confident in his calculations and began firing at the balloons. Every dart hit the mark, and he prioritized the balloons worth more points.

Cody and Sammy were also doing their best, but some of their shots failed to connect with a balloon. The geek was doing a bit better than the cheerleader, possibly due in part to the differences in spectator attitudes. Team Old School were cheering on Cody with words of encouragement and support. This was mostly the case for Sammy, but one voice in particular stood out among her team.

"Come on, Sparemmy, stop missing shots," Amy yelled, ignoring the glares she was getting from Shawn and Jasmine. "Are you really going to let those dorks beat you in a dumb carnival game? You are soooo voted off if you cost us the win."

"Would you shut up already?" Jasmine stepped up to the meaner twin, towering over her with arms folded and glare pointed. "You're not helping."

Sammy sighed, doing her best to keep the jeers out of mind as she refocused on the game. Cody had taken notice of heckling from her sister, pausing to check on the nicer twin to see if she was ok.

"Geez, do you have to put up with that at home?"

"I thought it would get better after Pahkitew Island since I learned how to stand up for myself more," Sammy said. "But she still treats me like garbage. If anything, she's even more spiteful now. I really don't know why she hates me so much, but living with her is exhausting."

"Yeah, I feel that. It can really take a lot out of you when you can't even relax in your own home." Cody chuckled, tossing one of his darts haphazardly as the conversation rolled on. "Heck, my parents ended up having to get a restraining order against Sierra since she kept breaking into my room to steal my undies."

Sammy chuckled, accidentally missing a dart throw in the process.

"Oh, that wasn't a joke, it really happened." Cody also missed a throw, B in the background now almost done with all of his shots. "It was kinda ugly, she wrote some pretty worrying blog posts afterwards. But it's been nice to have peace of mind at home now, at least. Maybe you should look into moving out and getting away from her?"

"You know, that's not a bad idea." Sammy grinned, thinking over where she could move to with the help of the prize money. "I'll be going to college soon, I was originally thinking about going to a local university but when you put it that way it'll be way more enjoyable for me if I go literally anywhere that Amy isn't."

"And B ends after having earned the maximum amount of points possible," Chris suddenly yelled, snapping Cody and Sammy out of their conversation to see the silent genius exchanging high fives with his team. "Who knew that was even doable? Meanwhile, the other two seem to have taken a break. Might I remind you guys that there IS a time limit?"

"Whoops, guess we let our minds wander." Cody chuckled, rushing through his remaining darts. "Good talk, though!"

"Totally," Sammy agreed, also finishing off her darts. "We could talk more later, if you want. I'm kinda curious to know more about how that restraining order went down."

By the time the two were finished, Cody had popped more balloons than Sammy. Now the teams were once again tied in points, with Team Old School still yet to have placed anything but 2nd in each challenge.

"And for our next challenge, you'll all be whittling a wooden sculpt of your's truly using chainsaws!" Chef walked into frame for added effect, holding up a chainsaw menacingly. "You know, for the extra danger effect."

"Yes!" Scott pumped his fist victoriously. "Looks like waiting till last worked out after all, I can whittle any of these other losers under the table."

As for Team Explosive, they were now down to Dave and Rodney as their remaining contenders before anyone could repeat. Most of the team looked towards the huge farm boy, figuring he could handle a chainsaw with relative ease.

"I've never really been much for art stuff," he said, blushing. "I'd hate to drop the ball for us, especially since there's a lot of farm things that could be next that I WOULD know a lot about."

"Fine, I'll take this one." Dave sighed, looked over the giant blocks of wood being brought out for them to carve. "How hard could it be?"

Very hard, as it turns out. Some flashes forward showed off just how much Dave struggled to handle his chainsaw, much less carve out a good statue of Chris with it. DJ was having a much easier time, having been chosen as his team's first repeater since he was strong and decently versed in art. But any of his credentials had no chance against Scott, who carved through the wood with an almost disturbing amount of glee. Even if he was mostly experienced in whittling with a knife, the way he handled the power tool gave the impression he knew his way around it almost too well.

By the time it was all said and done, the dirt farmer had made by far the best wood sculpt. He had basically recreated the Thinker, but with Chris' head and making sure to give him a pronounced six pack. DJ's sculpt looked like Chris for sure, but it was much less dynamic and detailed as the former's. As for Dave, he had only managed to carve out a glorified stick figure with hair that vaguely resembled Chris'.

"Welp, easy call here, Scott wins and Dave's sucks the most." With another update of the chalkboard, now Team Radioactive was back in the lead. "Seriously. Team Old School, if you want to place anything other than 2nd in these at any point by all means feel free."

Another flash forward took us through two more challenges. First was bull riding, though instead of using a mechanical bull they had to stay on a genuine one. Rodney had to do this challenge due to the rules, but saving him for it proved to work out as the bull actually had a hard time bucking off his massive frame. Leshawna went for her team since she won a challenge similar to this way back in season 1, while Brick wanted to redeem his loss in the pie eating content. He was unsuccessful, as he was the first bucked from the bull. Leshawna and Rodney both held on as much as they could manage, but the ghetto girl was ultimately unable to last as long as the farmer and fell off first. With Rodney's win, things were once again tied.

Next up the players had to quite literally find a needle in a haystack. Though Chris had hidden various other fun surprises in each haystack to keep things interesting. Though a mousetrap in the hay initially threw him off, B ultimately won with ease thanks to a magnet he kept in his jacket helping him retrieve the metal needle. Trent and Shawn combed through their hay with vigor, but Shawn had been sent screaming out of the hay when a zombie mask Chris planted inside freaked him out. By the time he recovered and realized it wasn't a genuine zombie it was too late, as Trent had located his needle to keep his team in not-last place.

"And just like that we're down to the final challenge!" Chris rubbed his hands together. "Chef, how's our tallies looking?"

"Team Radioactive is in the lead," the co-host confirmed. "Old School keeps getting 2nd in everything, so they still in 2nd. Team Explosive is sucking the most, but only by one point. It's literally anyone's game."

"I'm going for us," Sugar yelled in a matter of fact tone to the rest of her team. "County fairs are MY turf, and I won us our first challenge, y'all gotta save the best for last."

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but yeah I think we should go with Sugar," Jasmine agreed. "If she can win this for us we'll at worst avoid last place."

While there was some debate among the other two teams on who should go, the confirmation that it would be an unorthodox challenge with no attachment to farming caused Scott and Beth to step back while Courtney and Lightning stepped up to the plate. Chef threw a block of ice in front of the three contestants, and encased in each was a frozen plain white t shirt.

"Your final challenge is simple," Chris explained. "The first person to unfreeze their shirt and put it on wins. Whoever does it last, loses. And don't worry, the shirts are 4x. They'll fit all of you."

"Sha-easy. First class here we come!" Once their host gave the signal, Lightning began chipping away the ice with punches and kicks. It was more unorthodox since Courtney and Sugar immediately went to using body heat to melt their blocks, but it seemed to be doing steady work as the ice came off. While sitting on her block, Sugar took special notice of Lightning's antics.

***** Confessional: Sugar *****

"I ain't never been much for math-e-matics, but them egg heads on my team explained it well enough for me. Winning the challenge would keep us from losing someone, but if them Radioactive fellers don't lose then they still get first class. First class is the only part of the plane fit for me! So I gots to make sure we keep it that way."

***** In Centennial Park *****

Sugar grinned mischievously, waiting for Lightning to be looking the other way. Once his back was turned, she reached down and slid forward on her block of ice as fast as she could. She picked up enough speed to bowl over the jock as she passed by, knocking him to the ground before he delivered another curb stomp to his ice block.

"Hey! Watch where you're steering that thing, girl!"

"Whoops," Sugar called back with sarcastic sincerity. "Sorry, must not have seen you there."

Lightning got up and dusted himself off. But right before he could return to chipping away at his ice, Sugar passed by again and knocked him down once more. Now the jock was getting annoyed, rubbing his head after the impact.

"You're doing that on purpose!"

"Get Sugar'd, big boy!" This time Sugar decided to propel herself even faster with, what else, her flatulence. But as she shot forward with her gross wind guiding her, the heat from the fart started melting the ice much quicker than she anticipated. As a result, it had completely melted just as she was about to bowl past Lightning a third time. She came to a stop in front of him, looking up sheepishly as he glared down. "Uh... I was just joking?"

"Wanna see how a star quarterback REALLY knocks somehow over?" Lightning asked menacingly, rolling up his sleeves and getting into position. Sugar yelped, holding up the now free of ice but still stiff t shirt for protection as Lightning jogged forward. He rammed into the t shirt with such force that it sent Sugar flying many feet backwards. "Sha-bam!"

She landed with a rough thud, disorienting her enough to take her out of commission for a few moments. But after she came to, she looked over at the t shirt which was now no longer stiff after the tackle had essentially chipped away the last of the iciness.

"Ha! I meant to do that." Sugar victoriously slid the shirt on, earning cheers from her team.

"Aw crap." Lightning had just managed to get the encasing ice fully chipped away from his own shirt. He held up the stiff clothing to give it a final punch and make it wearable, only to be cut off by the host.

"And that's game!"

Confused, Lightning looked over to see Courtney now also wearing her shirt. She had managed to melt her ice at a nice steady pace in peace while Lightning and Sugar were occupied with each other. And since she seemed to be full of hot air, she melted her ice quicker than Lightning had been able to chip away while distracted.

***** Confessional: Lightning *****

"No way. The Lightning lost to that chubby gross girl? Nuh uh, that can't be right. Where was the ref? That totally should have been a red flag." He folded his arms, looking off with a growing sense of disappointment. "Lightning didn't really lose like that... couldn't have."

***** In Centennial Park *****

With the tallies updated for one final time, despite all odds the teams were now all tied at 20 points each. Lightning hung his head in shame as he sulked back to his team, while Sugar and Courtney both earned cheers of praise from their own. Chris, amused, chuckled as he looked over the players.

"Well looks like as luck would have it, we have to go to a tie breaker. The winner of this will take first class for their team, and the loser will send someone packing. So you better pick who plays for this one wisely."

"I just got us back in the game, so obviously it should be me," Sugar said proudly to her teammates.

"Hey, no objection here," Shawn agreed. "You're the only one that won us two challenges, as long as it's something you're good at then it may as well be you."

"Heh, there ain't nothing Chris can throw at us from a county fair that Sugar ain't the best at," the country girl boasted, hands on her hips.

"For our tie breaker, we'll have you all competing in a banjo duel!"

Sugar's eyes went wide and she looked on awkwardly. "Uh, except that."

"You don't know how to play the banjo?" Dave asked, surprised. "Out of all the other weird things you know, that's not one of them?"

"I'm a singer! I ain't got no time fer instruments." She glared over at Chris. "Ain't no county fair complete without some country music, why can't I just sing?"

"Do you not remember that you got eliminated last time BECAUSE your singing is so bad? Either way, this isn't a singing episode, so no singing is required." Chris shrugged innocently, he and Chef walking off to prepare the tiebreaker. "Pick yourself a banjo player."

Team Explosive looked around awkwardly, Sugar folding her arms and huffing in defeat. Jasmine scratched her head, actually feeling nervous for her team's chances for once. "Anyone know how to play a banjo, then? Beardo, you're a musician right?"

"Sure, but all I really know outside of by dj booth is the keyboard." He shrugged, pointing a thumb at Sugar. "Otherwise I'm in the same boat as her, I'm more into singing than playing."

"I've got a bit of experience, I guess," Rodney admitted with his hand raised. "My paw is actually really good at the banjo, so he's shown me and my bros how to play it before. I never really kept up with practicing it, though."

"It'll be fine, all you have to do is just don't suck as much as the other two." Amy pushed Rodney along to get him into position. Meanwhile, Team Radioactive had a much easier time choosing who would play for them.

"I got this in the bag, grandpappy taught me how to play when I was like six," Scott bragged, no one really objecting since none of them had any experience with the instrument anyway. "It'll be like taking candy from a baby, easy peezy."

Team Old School was last to choose someone. Many were glancing Trent's way, despite the musician looking very hesitant.

"Come on man, you play the guitar," DJ pointed out. "Ain't a banjo easier, if anything?"

"There's similarities, but all instruments are different." Trent rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "You'd be surprised at the tiny differences between stringed instruments, I once tried playing a ukulele at a show in Hawaii and long story short I think angered some sort of ancient volcano god."

"He's really never practiced any other instrument outside of his guitar, except the balalaika of all things," Cody added. "Anyone else here that would be a better bet than him?"

"Eh, I'm exquisite with the violin but the banjo is too lowbrow for my tastes," Courtney admitted. Eventually Beth meekly raised her hand just as Trent was about to go join the others.

"Well, I've played a few times before. My mom was super into bluegrass music and has a banjo that I'll fiddle around with from time to time." She tapped her fingers together hesitantly. "But I'm not a real musician like Trent! I wouldn't want to mess this up for us when he'd probably do a better job than me."

Trent leaned down, putting a hand on the nerdy girl's shoulder. "Some experience is better than no experience in my book. If you know the instrument, you're our best bet. Just go out there and try your best, you got this."

Everyone on the team gave Beth their own reassuring smiles and words of encouragement. Eventually she sighed, steeling herself for the challenge ahead. It was highly possible she'd be going home next if they lost this tie breaker. No pressure or anything. "Alright, alright. I can do this. I won't let us lose someone for the third time in a row."

With all teams having their affairs in order, Beth, Scott, and Rodney approached the final platform of the challenge. They were each handed a five string banjo, which Scott took confidently while the other two looked a bit more hesitant. Chef joined the trio on the platform in a ref outfit, holding up an arm.

"Once again, the rules are simple," Chris explained, joining the other contestants in front of the stage to watch the performance. "The three of you will play back and forth on your banjos until a full fledged duel has broken out. Once Chef lowers his arm, the duel officially is underway. You'll all keep going until two of you have stopped. First person to stop loses it for their team. Last one standing earns them first class. Beth, since your team has failed to win a single challenge today thus far, how about you start us out?"

Beth gulped, looking on sheepishly at her competition. Rodney looked determined, but wasn't too threatening otherwise. But Scott? His wicked grin and steely eyed stare was enough to unnerve the nerdier girl. Looking over at her team for support, their cheers of encouragement helped ease the tension. Finally, she took a deep breath and strummed five notes.

Scott nodded, strumming the same notes in a higher key. Rodney went next, playing the notes in the same key Beth had. The cycle continued with everyone playing the notes either higher or lower depending on how the last had played it. Eventually once it got to Rodney again he played a new set of nine notes. Beth responded by playing back the notes in a higher key. Scott played them in the same key Rodney had, and once it got back to the loverboy he played it the way Beth did. Once it was back to her she started a new tune with eight notes that the dirt farmer completed with five notes of his own.

After that Rodney played a new set of nine notes, which Beth then played slightly faster. Scott went even faster when it was his turn, and gradually the trio kept increasing their speed more and more. At some point Scott began playing the notes from the beginning of the song, but now matching the speed the three of them had set. They continued through the song once more, still increasing in speed with their eyes locked on each other. Finally, all three of them were strumming away at once, and Chef lowered his arm to signify they were past the point of no return.

The three of them strummed away, not showing any sign of slowing down. Scott's mischievous gaze prompted Beth to close her eyes while she took deep breaths to keep her playing composed. In the crowd many contestants were tapping their feet and even clapping along to the tune. Sugar and Beardo had even locked arms and started square dancing along. Scott and Rodney had also taken to tapping their feet along with the music, with the former's massive feet causing a bit of shaking every time he tapped.

Rodney looked out into the crowd, proud of how good he was doing. He even noticed that Amy was giving a rare genuine smile, as even she was enjoying the music. Seeing her smile raised Rodney's spirits and filled him with determination... perhaps too much determination. Because as he had let his mind wander, he suddenly lost focus of how much force he was strumming his banjo with. Before he knew it, his massive mitt caused one of the strings to come undone. In a panic, he couldn't stop himself from clinching up. This unfortunately led to him crushing the banjo with his mere grip. He cried out in shock, dropping to his knees in defeat as he realized he had just lost.

Many in the crowd wanted to react to Rodney losing, and by extension Team Explosive, but Chris promptly shushed them as the duel was still ongoing between Beth and Scott. The sound of Rodney's banjo crumbling made the farm girl open her eyes, surprising her as she realized her team was at least safe from elimination now. But if she wanted to pull off the win, now she had to go through Scott. He stepped in front of her, facing her head on as the two continued the duel themselves. While they always continued strumming, they took turns playing louder than the other to play fast versions of the notes from earlier. Both were tapping their feet away as they locked eyes with the other.

"You ain't too shabby, squirt," Scott complimented, genuinely impressed that Beth could keep up with him.

"Thanks," she replied gratefully, peering over at the crowd and suddenly grinning as an idea popped into her head. "Oh, by the way. I know she may be trying to deny it super hard. But Courtney? She's totally still into you."

"What?!" Blindsided, Scott's momentary loss of focus caused him to drop his banjo. "Crap!"

With that, Beth strummed one final set of notes, using extra emphasis on the last one. Team Old School erupted into cheers while Chris confirmed what had happened. "And that's a cool win for Team Old School! Not only has Team Explosive broke their winning streak, looks like they've broken their suckitude streak."

Her teammates hoisted Beth up into the air, cheering while Scott sneered up at her in annoyance.

***** Confessional: Beth *****

"Oh my gosh, I actually did it! I guess I do kinda feel bad that I had to play a little dirty to make Scott lose focus, but it's not like he got last so I think it all balances out."

***** In Economy Class *****

"Ugh, I can't believe we actually have to sleep in the gross mess," Amy complained as she, Sugar, and Rodney made their way back into the plane. "This sucks, I miss first class already."

"If you're so against sleeping here tonight, we can help prevent that," Jasmine spat as she, Shawn, and Sammy passed the trio. The twins exchanged glares as they walked past.

"As if I'm going to let my lame-o sister last longer than me again." Amy walked off in a huff. "If it goes to a tiebreaker, even better! I get to embarrass and cause her elimination personally."

Rodney watched the exchange in silent shame. He breathed a heavy sigh, looking down in defeat.

***** Confessional: Rodney *****

"It sure is nice of Amy to try and cheer me up by acting like anyone else is getting eliminated, but I know better. I really screwed up that tiebreaker, it's my fault that our winning streak is over! I really dropped the ball for my team, how could they ever forgive me?"

***** In the Elimination Area *****

Team Explosive filed into the drop zone after casting their votes for the first time, filling up the bleachers and surrounded by a tense silence. Amy and Sammy glared at each other, Rodney still had his head hung in shame, Beardo produced the sound of loud chattering teeth as he chewed his nails nervously. Chris soaked in the anticipation, smirking at their growing misery.

"Dang, Team Explosive, what happened? You went from three wins in a row to here?" He whistled, shaking his head. "Talk about a major fall from grace. Oh well, time to hand out some barf bags! The first one goes to Sugar, since she proved to be surprisingly useful to you all today."

Sugar cheered enthusiastically, opening her mouth as the peanut bag was flung at her. She ate the whole thing with scary precision. And no, she didn't just eat the peanuts. She consumed those AND the bag whole. Others scooted away in disgust.

"Shawn, Jasmine, you two are also safe because obviously."

The couple exchanged a high five, accepting their symbols of immunity graciously.

"Dave and Beardo. Neither of you won your challenge today, but safe you remain." He tossed the two their bags, paying special attention to the beatboxer. "So yes, you can relax Beardo. You aren't the first person on your team voted off this time. Consider yourself officially not Ezekiel and Staci tier."

Beardo held his barf bag up triumphantly, doing a recreation of the Legend of Zelda sound whenever Link obtains an important item. Dave merely rolled his eyes next to him.

As he watched his teammates gradually obtain their safety, Rodney heaved a heavy sigh. "Yeah, it figures I'm one of the ones in danger. I really screwed things up for all of us today."

"Yeah, cool story Rodney," Chris replied, confused as to the point of the outburst in the first place. "But the ceremony is still going so-"

"I mean, if I would have stuck it out we'd be back in first class again! But now look where I got us."

"Rodney, would you please shu-"

"Not only did I let down the team, but I let down my dear Amy," he continued, not even paying attention to Chris. The mean twin looked on in befuddlement.

"Rodney-"

"There's nothing I can do to redeem myself, I deserve to get what's coming to-"

"RODNEY!"

The country boy was finally silenced, startled by the raised voice from Chris. "Would you can it already? You only received one vote, and that's just because you voted for yourself! You're safe."

Chris chucked the barf bag at Rodney in annoyance, with both the farmer and Amy gasping in response.

"You did WHAT?" Amy yelled, her eyes going wide in fear. Sammy looked down at her with a satisfied grin forming.

"Which means it's down to the twins," Chris confirmed, holding up the final barf bag. Amy looked at it in worried panic, while Sammy beamed confidently. "And the last barf bag of the night goes to...

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... Sam-"

"WAIT!" Rodney shot up, holding out his arms desperately. "This isn't right. Neither of these two deserves to leave over me, how will everyone forgive me for what I did today?"

"We've literally already forgiven you and couldn't care less about it," Jasmine pointed out.

"I consider myself a gentlemen, and it's my duty to do what's right."

"What's right is you sit back down and let this ceremony finish," Shawn shot back, panic growing in his tone as they realized what the farmer was doing.

"I'll never be able to live myself if one of these two go when it should have been me," he kept on, the objections going in one ear and out the other. "I need to redeem myself in the eyes of my team."

"We're telling you right now the thing that will make us most happy is if you sit down and don't do this," Sammy said, practically screaming in an attempt to actually register with the rambling loverboy. "Are you even paying attention to us?"

Rodney marched straight up to Chris, handing back his bag of peanuts. "Chris, for the sake of saving these ladies, I quit the competition!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Chris tossed the two bags at Amy and Sammy, the later and her friends all groaning at the series of events. "Whatever gets you to shut up is cool in my books."

Chef pushed a parachute into Rodney's arms before leading him over to the now open hatch. The farmer faced his team one last time with a smile. "I hope you guys can understand my decision."

"We don't," Sammy, Shawn, and Jasmine said in unison with glares pointed his way.

"And Amy, I hope you can go on in the game without me."

"Uh huh, yeah, got it." The mean twin was long past caring once she had got her immunity and was now inspecting her makeup in a hand mirror.

"But before I go, there's one last thing you should know." Rodney took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts so he could deliver the most eloquent of parting words. "This that you, and me with love and singing. Banjos and dancing, with cake that together..."

His incoherent rambling went on, with his teammates all looking around to gauge if anyone could make heads or tails of his gibberish. The dumbfounded looks on everyone's faces made it apparent that no, no one knew what the hell he was going on about.

"But the heart wants what the love eats and-" Before his monologue could continue, the Boot of Shame mercifully came swinging down, knocking the mountain of a man out of the plane.

"Well that was enlightening." Chris chuckled. "Thanks to Rodney McQuitty Pants we're down 4 players with 20 left to go. How will Team Explosive bounce back from their first loss? Can Amy luck her way out of getting eliminated a second time if they do lose again? And which players will stay on route, while another gets the boot? Tune in next time to find out, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

**Voting Confessionals:**

Amy took great joy in stamping her sister's passport multiple times. "It's time for Sammey to know her place once and for all, I'm tired of her thinking she's so big now that she has a bit of backbone. I still haven't forgotten about her going farther than me last time, I'm not letting that happen again!"

"I think I'm really starting to be seen as a true contributing member of the team and not just the weird dude voted off first last time." Beardo grinned for the camera, giving Dave's passport a stamp. "Dave's been kinda killing my vibe, though. I think he might still dislike me. So I kinda gotta vote for him."

Dave looked over Beardo, Rodney, Sammy, and Amy's passports. Eventually he shrugged and stamped the beatboxer's. "Sure, Rodney lost us the tiebreaker, but he won his earlier challenge and that brawn will probably come in handy for us later. Of the others that lost a challenge, Beardo still kinda bugs me. Seriously, those sounds are super annoying."

"I'm almost relieved we lost this time so we can cut your abusive arse out of the competition." Jasmine gave Amy's passport a firm stamp. "I know Sammy is learning how to stand up for herself, but I'm not gonna give you the opportunity to bully her anymore in the first place."

"I'm so ashamed! I know Amy wants me to vote for her sister, but I just can't bring myself to do what isn't right." Sighing in shame, Rodney stamped his own passport. "We all know it's gonna be me, there may as well not be a ceremony."

Sammy repeatedly stamped her twin's passport, even building up a sweat from how intensely she was going at it. She eventually smiled sheepishly at the camera, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Sorry, didn't mean to get carried away. I'm just gonna be really glad to see Amy go. The less she's around to torment me, the more sound I can sleep at night."

"It's not like Amy has even been particularly good in challenges, so we ain't losing anything cutting her." Shawn gave a hard stamp to Amy's passport. "Honestly, she's so nasty that I think even the zombies would pass up eating her. It'd probably give them indigestion."

"I don't really give a rat's tail about Samey, so if Amy wants to get rid of her to break up that goody two shoe alliance going on between her and that weirdo couple I'm all for it." Sugar licked her stamp and pressed it down on Sammy's passport. She then gave it another lick for good measure. "Mmm, that don't taste half bad!"

Votes for Amy: 3 (Jasmine, Sammy, Shawn)

Votes for Sammy: 2 (Amy, Sugar)

Votes for Rodney: 1 (Rodney)

Votes for Dave: 1 (Beardo)

Votes for Beardo: 1 (Dave)

**After the Boot of Shame:**

Rodney held on tight to the parachute straps as his bulging arms made it feel like they'd rip at any moment. The chute was already deployed, but he still floated down at a slightly faster rate than previous eliminations thanks to the increased girth. "Ahh, I feel like a load was really taken off my conscious by sacrificing myself for the ladies. It was tough to give up my chance for the million dollars, but in the end I know it was the right call. Sure, this may mean I'm the first one from my team to leave, but I went out on my terms! And I can't wait to introduce Amy to my bros back home. They're gonna be so jealous!"

After enough falling, he laded with a mighty thud in the middle of downtown Nashville. Many pedestrians stared at him in confusion while he looked around. "Huh, not really sure where to go now. I wonder how you get to the nearest airport."

"Oh, the airport?" One brunette woman clad in red flannel and blue jeans pointed down one of the roads. "It's just about 30 minutes that way, ya can't miss it."

"Whoa, that's so nice of you to give me directions!" Feeling his heart flutter and an angelic choir sing in his mind, truly Rodney knew this was love. He stared at the woman with a dopey grin, beginning his incoherent babbling session. Confused and a bit frightened, she backed away slowly.

**Remaining Contestants:**

Team Old School: Beth, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Leshawna, Trent

Team Radioactive: Anne Maria, B, Brick, Dakota, Dawn, Lightning, Scott

Team Explosive: Amy, Beardo, Dave, Jasmine, Sammy, Shawn, Sugar

**Elimination Order:**

21st: Rodney

22nd: Harold

23rd: Izzy

24th: Staci


	6. I See Eyes of Black, Broke Noses Too

"Previously on Total Drama Battle of the Generations," Chris began narrating in the by now standard intro. "Our teams headed down south for a good old fashioned country fair. We pitted them in everything ranging from eating contests, to pig racing, to wood carving. But in the end it all came down to a banjo duel to break our three way tie. Rodney and his clumsy crushy hands cemented Team Explosive's first loss of the season, while Beth used some quick thinking to beat Scott and win her team a spot in first class. At the elimination ceremony, Rodney despaired over losing his team the challenge, but was shocked to find out he was safe. Things came down to Amy and Samey, but just before one of the wonder twins could take the drop, Rodney stepped in to sacrifice himself for their sake. Dang dude, throwing away a shot at a million bucks for some chicks who aren't even into you? I think the kids these days have a word for that. He be mad simping."

From the cockpit Chef looked over at Chris, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Hey, I ain't the one who makes these words up." Chris chuckled, going back to his narrating. "20 contestants remain, and momentum has changed drastically now that Team Explosive's winning streak has been broken. Can they hope to bounce back? Will Team Old School start a new winning streak of their own? Maybe Team Radioactive could steal the win out from under their nose? We'll have to tune in to find out, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

***** Opening Credits *****

Things were tense as business picked right back up immediately following Rodney's strange elimination. Team Explosive had still yet to leave the elimination area, and three pairs of eyes were glaring Amy's direction.

"What's with the looks?" the mean twin asked, more than a hint of condescending smugness in her tone. "I mean it's not like any of you got eliminated so I don't get why you're getting so worked up over it."

"Oh no, you don't get to act all high and mighty after all of that," her sister shot back, pointing towards the exit hatch. "You'd be the one pushed out of there if Rodney hadn't quit. You just got lucky, but he won't be here to bail you out if we have to vote someone out next time."

Amy was preparing her own snappy comeback, but was shot down before it could start when Jasmine stepped up to tower over her. "You'd be wise to just zip it. You're on thin enough ice as it is. For your sake, you better be hoping we can start back up our winning streak. You just lost the one bloke daft enough to blindly follow you no matter what. You're not safe by any means of the word."

"Aaaand, that there is what they call a mic drop." Shawn mimed the dropping of a microphone, chuckling as his girlfriend and Sammy took their leave to head towards the cargo hold. "Dang, I love that woman."

The zombie nut took his leave to follow after the girls, leaving the rest of the team in an awkward silence. Having no business in the drama, Dave and Beardo silently left for economy class to join those from Team Radioactive not active in the zombie search. Amy was doing a poor job trying to remain composed as she shook from embarrassed rage.

"Look, I don't wanna agree with them losers, but ya gotta admit this still ain't great fer us," Sugar eventually said, arms folded. "There's three of em, and now only two of us. I ain't much for trigonometry, but even I can do that math."

"And what's your bright idea of what we should do about that?"

"Oh, that's easy." Sugar laughed, waving her hand dismissively. "We just need to replace Rodney with twiggy boy or the big guy."

Amy grunted in frustration. Rodney wasn't exactly the definition of cool himself, but at least he was strong and had his own sort of rustic cuteness to him. She could stand having him around. But Dave and Beardo? Not exactly the types she'd usually associate with. But then again, neither was Sugar. Yet now she was the closest ally Amy had.

"Fine," she eventually conceded. "So which one do we go for?"

"Well ol' Dave is darn near the biggest stick in the mud I ever met, last time around he wouldn't even let the wizard stay on our team! Beardo seems mighty fun, and anyone that can make pig noises as good as he did in the last challenge is ok in my book. Plus ain't he kinda shy and stuff? He'd probably be on board with us lickety split if we say we'll be his friend."

"I'll let you handle that part, then," Amy said, shivering at the thought of actually asking the beatboxer to be her friend.

***** Confessional: Amy *****

"Uuuugh, this sucks so much. Here I was, looking forward to dragging that big dumb hick to the finale with me so he'd hand me the million dollars. Now I have to bring Sugar with me. Can you say ew much? I'd say I was happy that him quitting kept me safe, but if he had just voted for Samey like I told him to then I could have just beat her in the tie breaker! So yeah, farm boy is dreaming if he thinks I'll ever call him back."

***** In First Class *****

Team Old School were already living it up large for their first stay in the winner's class. Courtney and Beth both relaxed with a facial mask, while DJ was having himself treated to a pedicure. Leshawna, Trent, and Cody were at the bar enjoying various treats and drinks. Though the lot of them were of drinking age, Leshawna was disappointed to see that no alcohol was stocked since some members of Team Explosive were still below the legal limit. As a result, she and Trent settled on some soda while Cody scarfed down as much sweets as the plane had stocked.

"Seriously dude, I'll never understand how you stay so skinny when you tear through candy like it's nothing," Trent observed as he watched his friend make short work of some chocolate bars. "You don't even work out that much, it's an anomaly."

"For real, you gotta teach a sister your secret," Leshawna added. "If I could eat whatever crap I wanted like you without worrying about packing on the pounds I'd be set."

Cody smirked, but his mouth was too full to respond otherwise. It was then that the trio heard Courtney speaking up from nearby.

"Ok, seriously Scott, it's bad enough that you're bugging me out in economy, but can't I at least enjoy first class in peace?"

They turned to see a group made up of both Radioactive and Explosive team members walking their way through first class. The aforementioned farmer was bringing up the rear, frowning at hearing his short lived ex's annoyance.

"Relax, toots, we're just going to the cargo hold. We kinda gotta go through here to get there."

Noticing Sammy in the group, Cody quickly gulped down his mouthful of candy. "What are you heading there for?"

"Zombie check," the cheerleader answered. "It's a long story."

"Another set of hands never hurts if you wanna join us," Shawn added, sensing an opportunity to help the two out. "It helped speed things along when Scott joined in, so having you along would be even better."

"Sounds fun, count me in." He jumped up from his seat, quickly joining Sammy near the front of the group. "I did offer to tell you more about that restraining order story after all."

Catching Trent giving him a sly grin, Cody winked and followed the rest of the group into the cargo hold. Once they were gone, Leshawna looked on in amused confusion.

"How long has this been a thing?"

"Just recently, he mentioned that they kinda hit it off talking during the last challenge." Trent answered. "He thinks there could be something there, so I guess he's just going for it."

"Huh, guess stringbean found himself some game." Leshawna chuckled, downing another soda. "Seems like just yesterday he was still striking out with Gwen over and over. Good for him finally getting over that oneitis of his."

***** Confessional: Trent *****

"As much as I'm rooting for my dude to find him someone special, it's kinda funny. Justin has been constantly between girlfriends over the last few months, and now Harold and Leshawna are together again. If Cody and Sammy become a thing, that leaves me as the only single dude in the band. I guess being seen as the loner bachelor of the group has its benefits, but it's still kinda weird considering how I was the only one in a relationship back when we started out in season 1."

***** In the Cargo Hold *****

Sometime later Sammy had already given Cody the rundown of how the zombie hunt's purpose was to keep Shawn at ease, though it had also helped them bond a bit with the helping members from Team Radioactive. Once that was done, Cody went into more detail on how his parents had placed a restraining order against Sierra.

"Geez, you guys actually had to get the cops involved?"

"Well she did end up breaking my bedroom window since the security in the backyard was upped. I guess she thought it wouldn't have been as noisy as it was." He took notice of her confused look. "Yes, I know that should be common sense, but Sierra was never the best at picking up on that. Honestly, she should be happy my folks aren't the gun buying types, most parents may have gone into full on attack mode after hearing that."

"And you haven't talked to her since then? Not even like online or anything?"

"She kinda dropped off the radar not long afterwards." Cody shivered. "Honestly, I was afraid of the worst. As much as she would bug me and cross the line, I still didn't want anything bad happening to her. But then she suddenly got back into blogging a few months later, so maybe she finally got some help."

While that duo continued chattering on, a bored Scott went through the motions of his own check. As he tried to move out of ear shot from those two, he noticed Dawn nearby checking in on a family of rats. That gave him an idea.

"Say, Dawn, you got a second?" His presence seemed to startle the rats, sending them skittering away. She shot him an annoyed look for his trouble. "My bad. It's just, you know, kind of important."

"It's about you and Courtney, correct?"

"Alright, seriously, are you psychic or what?"

"No, it was just rather obvious." She smiled. "Continue."

"That pipsqueak in the banjo duel told me that Courtney's still in to me. After I got kicked off I went home and watched back All Stars, and it LOOKED like she liked me before that last episode. But anytime I try talking to her this season she treats me like I punted her dog down an elevator shaft." He shrugged. "So what's your aura reading thingy make of it? Was Beth lying or what?"

Dawn tapped her fingers together, humming in thought. "It's hard to say. As far as auras go, Courtney's is all over the place. It basically looks like a Jackson Pollock painting." Noticing Scott's confused look, she realized he didn't know who that was. "It's incomprehensible." Nope, still confusion. "It's really really really messy looking."

"Oooooh," he finally said in realization.

"So essentially it's hard to read," she continued. "However, as far as I can tell I do sense that she has an affinity for you. With that said, I don't believe Beth was lying. It's just hard to say why she's giving you such a cold shoulder. Her aura tells of a love life that's been... complicated to say the least, so that's likely playing a factor."

"Guess that's more to work with than what I had." He scratched his head, thinking over how to go about his next move. "Thanks."

***** Confessional: Dawn *****

"Scott coming to me for advice and then giving a genuine thanks afterwards?" She giggled, shaking her head in disbelief. "The universe truly does work in mysterious ways."

***** In the Common Area *****

Breakfast was going as peacefully as it could for the 20 remaining contestants. The food wasn't great, the seats weren't comfy, but compared to the worse food they had on the islands it was manageable. Chris and Chef emerged from the cockpit, immediately creating an air of tension.

"Now why is it that whenever I walk in here everybody gets on edge like I'm about to toss them out of a plane or something?"

"Is that a joke?" DJ asked, genuinely unsure.

"Come on, I haven't done that to you guys this season. Yet, anyways." He paused, grabbing hold of a latch handle nearby and opening it with glee. "So it's time to change that!"

Everyone screamed as the high wind forced them to hold on to the tables in an attempt to not get sucked out of the open door. But it was futile, as one by one each contestant was sent flying outside, with Chef and Chris miraculously staying inside with no issue somehow. Jasmine was the last to be sucked into the air, flailing her arms in a panic.

Thankfully for the screaming players, they had been over water and splashed down with relative safety. A large island was nearby, and by the time everyone had swam to safety Chris and Chef had successfully landed the jet on the beach.

"Hope you kids enjoyed your swim!" He soaked in the various glares and curses flung his way, smiling all the while. "Now that you're bright eyed and bushy tailed, we can turn our attention to today's locale. Madagascar! Technically part of Africa, but nestled on this neat little island off the mainland of the continent. Somewhere around 90 percent of the wildlife here can't be found anywhere else in the world. Unless it's in a zoo or something, at least. You guys will get a good chance to meet a lot of those animals, since today's challenge will put your tracking skills to the test."

Chef arrived on the scene with a medallion that had an image of Chris' face on it. He then effortlessly broke it into three pieces while Chris narrated. "We'll keep this one short and sweet. Somewhere on the island we've hidden three pieces to a medallion with your team logo on it. All you guys have to do is find all pieces of your medallion and return here to me with them to assemble the full thing. First team that does it nets themselves first class. Last team to do it? Well, it should be obvious by this point."

"And what's stopping us from just chucking the other guy's pieces into the ocean if we find one before they do?" Anne Maria asked.

"Normally I'd allow it but we do have a schedule to keep up with and I'd rather avoid making this challenge take too long due to sabotage. So no interfering with other team's pieces, otherwise you'll get disqualified." Chris reached into a bag, pulling out a walkie talkie and tossing one to the Jersey Girl. "But while we're on the subject I will be giving each team one of these so you all can check in on your progress. Feel free to gloat when you find one of your own pieces to put the fire under the other dude's butts."

"Do we get a map or something to get a feel for where our stuff is?" Dave asked after catching his team's device.

"Honestly, you'd think after this long they would know better than asking things like that," Chris said to Chef, who shook his head. "Keep those walkie talkies on, I'll check in on you guys from time to time and I need to let you know when it's time to sing. With that all out of the way, get to hunting!"

The teams went their separate ways, with Dave, Anne Maria, and Leshawna all covering walkie talkie duty. Shawn and Jasmine were looking particularly confident as they carefully made their way through the rain forest of the island.

"This is perfect, all we have to do is look for signs of where Chris' interns might have been through, then track them to where the medallion pieces were hid," Jasmine went over. "It's right up our alley! We'll be back in first class in no time."

"I'd say that you shouldn't jinx us, but between you and me our team really does have the best shot here," Shawn added with a nod. "Neither of the others have anyone with our skillset, so somehow I doubt they're hanging in as good as us."

Indeed, a flash forward showed that this was the case for Team Radioactive.

"Dude, how the heck did this even happen?"

Scott's tone was a mix of annoyance and slight concern as the team crowded around to see Brick caught in a particularly large spider web.

"I told you! I noticed that my shoe was untied but ended up tripping on it before I could bend down to fix it. I landed in this thing." He shook a bit, trying to break free to no avail. "And this web is oddly tough, by the way."

"That makes sense, after all it appears to be a web made by the Darwin bark spider," Dawn explained, looking over the web in awe. "Not only are they the longest recorded webs, the silk itself is remarkably strong. Even stronger than Kevlar."

"The crap they make bullet proof vests out of?" Anne Maria went wide eyed. "How big are these things?"

By now Brick was in full freakout mode, but the others were too interested in Dawn's explanation to notice. "Not too large, actually. Even the larger females don't tend to even be an inch big."

On cue, a black bark spider crawled its way on to the web, most likely curious about the whole ass human now caught in it. While it was still creepy looking enough to get a yelp out of Brick, it was indeed rather small. Nothing to worry about... but then another spider joined it. And another. And then another. Suddenly a whole swarm of bark spiders dropped down on to the web. The cadet was petrified in fear, while the others watched on in shock. In one swift flash, the horde of spiders swarmed towards Brick, who screamed as loud as he could behind his closed mouth since he did NOT want those things going down his throat.

"I... better distract those spiders while you all get him free." Dawn moved to try and talk the arachnids away, while the others exchanged various wide eyed looks of concern.

Things weren't going much better for Team Old School, who had found themselves in a different area of the forest. At first things were looking good when they saw a piece of their medallion laying on a random tree branch. But upon reaching out to grab it, DJ was met with the scaly feel of a chameleon. Everyone on the team looked around to see more and more chameleons, all camouflaging as parts of the tree holding the chunk of medallion.

"Ok, well, surely if these things are trying to blend in as the medallion piece that means the real deal has to be nearby, right?" Trent reasoned, gently poking at one of the images of the medallion, only to be met with another chameleon.

"Well they sure aren't making it any easier for us," Courtney replied, frustrated after poking her third reptile in a row.

***** Confessional: Courtney ***  
**

"We did pretty good for ourselves in the last challenge, but we can't get complacent. Until we've for sure swayed Leshawna's vote away from Trent and Cody's, we need to keep avoiding elimination. I'm self aware enough to know it'll probably be me in danger before Beth and DJ unless one of them royally screws up a challenge." It was right before she crossed her arms that she realized a chameleon had latched itself on to her sleeve and blended in. It only revealed itself to grab one of the bathroom flies with its tongue for a quick snack. "Ok, seriously? When did that even have time to latch on to me?"

***** In the Forest *****

Team Explosive had successfully tracked their way to the location of their own first medallion piece. Unfortunately for them, it was smack dab in the middle of a clearing filled with large sleeping feline-like creatures.

"The heck are those things?" Sugar whispered. "Pumas?"

"Nah, that there's a fossa," Jasmine answered, keeping her voice low and signalling for the others to stop. "They're basically top of the food chain here in Madagascar. Guess we shouldn't be surprised they'd hide one of our pieces in the middle of a bunch of em."

"Well at least they're sleeping," Sammy pointed out. "If we're stealthy we should be able to-"

"ATTENTION, CONTESTANTS!" Chris' voice blared loudly through the walkie talkies. "THIS IS YOUR KIND HOST CHECKING IN ON EVERYONE SINCE NO ONE HAS REPORTED FINDING A PIECE YET."

The heard of fossa growled as the host's yelling stirred them from their slumber. Once they could see the source of the noise coming from Team Explosive, they started to show their teeth and approach the now terrified contestants.

"You did that on purpose," Dave scolded through the device, with Chris' laughter on the other end confirming as much.

"Yeeeeah, I did. But hey, I know what might help you kids out!"

***DING DING DING***

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," said various people from all three teams in unison, a split screen showing them all dealing with their respective problems be it spider, chameleon, or fossa related.

"It's called a mandatory song, not a mandatory complain session. Chop chop!"

* * *

In the music video the world around the contestants turned to shades of green, red, yellow, and white. Various shots of the Madagascan terrain cycled through, as a synth melody began accompanied by a marimba. As the song went on more percussion would be added in, everything from congas, to a cowbell, to snare drums. Dawn was working diligently to herd the bark spiders off of Brick's terrified self. Dakota and Lightning leaned forward, looking down at the cadet in pity.

 _"I sure hope those things do not bite,"_ the heiress sang.

 _"It'd suck for our teammate to become their early diiiiinner,"_ Lightning added.

Meanwhile Team Old School were still searching under the chameleons, growing increasingly frustrated as they seemed to be now drowning in a sea of them in the music video.

 _"Which one of these dumb things is right?"_ Courtney asked desperately.

 _"Why does it feel like the group of them are getting biiiger?"_ Beth noted as the search seemingly never ended.

Team Explosive were hiding behind trees and bushes over on their end, some peeking out carefully as they watched the group of fossa run by. Jasmine lead the way as they tried to tip toe over to their medallion piece.

 _"Are we sure the coast is really clear?"_ Dave sang nervously.

 _"I'm thinking those kitties were looking real mad and huuungry,"_ Beardo added.

 _"Come on guys, there's nothing to fear."_ Jasmine leaned down to pick up the medallion piece, only to then stand up and come face to face with a very angry fossa barring its teeth. Her eyes went wide. _"Well except for us becoming food."_

The percussion picked up as a montage played of the contestants having to deal with various animals throughout the island. A herd of ring tailed lemurs would run across the screen for each scene transition, first showing Team Old School now trying to fish out a medallion piece. DJ was struggling to reel up something on the beach, while Trent was fruitlessly only getting various fish at a river.

 _"There's a bunch of stuff here that could kill a dude,"_ the musician sang as he went through a rainbowfish, then a killifish, and finally a herring.

 _"This game's something only a million bucks could make us do,"_ DJ added, his catch finally revealing itself to be a massive coelacanth that flattened the brickhouse underneath it when it rose from the water.

 _"I dread these pains down in Africa,"_ sang Amy, her team now up in trees to avoid the fossa only to now have a swarm of bats flying into their face.

Shawn covered his head, peeking with one eye to wait and see when the barrage would end. _"And we know from here it just gets more ba-aaaaad."_

A few more scenic shots passed by of the Madagascan landscape, at one point even showing Chris and Chef sipping coffee on some lounge chairs on the beach while a family of asities flew above them. After that, we saw that Team Old School's fishing escapades had somehow led them to being stuck riding atop a humpback whale. Apparently they thought they potentially saw a medallion piece in one of its blowholes.

 _"It's looking like this wasn't smart,"_ Cody observed as they inched closer to the blowhole and realized it was merely a piece of algae and not what they were looking for. He was miraculously able to sing clearly while underwater.

 _"This stupid challenge has us going round and round in circles,"_ Leshawna added before the whale suddenly shot water out of the blowhole, sending the team rocketing away.

 _"I know we'll get through this in my heart,"_ Sammy sang as we now saw her team trekking through a section of the island heavily populated by bugs. Madagascan sunset moths flew by and various beetles crawled along the trees.

 _"That's assuming that none of these here critters make one of them lose their dang marbles,"_ Sugar pointed out, jutting a thumb backwards. Dave currently had a group of Madagascar hissing cockroaches climbing up his leg, and the running and screaming it caused him to do looked like some sort of interpretive dance.

Over with Team Radioactive, they had finally located their first medallion piece. Unfortunately for them it was underneath a leatherback sea turtle. Dawn was kneeling in front of it, seemingly trying to help urge it away from the part they needed. _"Please poor creatures, pay us no mind."_

 _"We just want to get this challenge done,"_ Scott sang painfully as he was meanwhile trying to life up the turtle's side for someone to grab the medallion piece. That obviously wasn't happening, since the thing weighed hundreds of pounds.

As the chorus started up again, the percussion once more picked up while Brick was swatting away some thirsty mosquitoes.

 _"There's a bunch of stuff here that could kill a dude,"_ sang the cadet.

 _"This game's something only a million bucks could make us do,"_ Anne Maria added as she sprayed the mosquitoes with her hair spray to get rid of them, not noticing that she was suffocating Brick in the process.

 _"I dread these pains down in Africa,"_ Trent sang from the shore Team Old School had washed up on, detaching a crayfish that had attached itself to his ass.

Next to his bandmate, Cody coughed up a wad of seaweed. _"And we know from here it just gets more ba-aaaaad."_

There was then a pretty sweet solo on the synthesizer. The camera panned up to reveal none other than B as the one playing on the keyboard, only finally stopping to whip out his singing device. _"LET'S ALL TRY NOT TO BECOME FOOD!"_

Now we went back and forth shots of the teams all working instruments of their own. Cody, B, and Beardo worked their respective synthesizers. Scott, DJ, and Shawn were on bongo duty, so on and so forth. Team Explosive all sung in unison. _"There's a bunch of stuff here that could kill a dude."_

 _"This game's something only a million bucks could make us do,"_ now sung the entirety of Team Old School.

 _"I dread these pains down in Africa,"_ sang Team Radioactive, though then the line was repeated by Team Explosive. Then by Team Old School. It was sung a few more times by one team after another until it came back to Team Radioactive singing together.

_"And we know from here it just gets more ba-aaaad!"_

* * *

With the song finally over, everyone took a moment to collect themselves and get their barrings. Jasmine looked at the medallion piece she had grabbed before they were chased off by the fossa, pocketing it to ensure it wouldn't be dropped. That done, Dave then whipped out the walkie talkie. "Alright, status report. We got our first piece during all the singing."

"Same here," Anne Maria confirmed while B tucked away their medallion third. "It was easy peazy."

"Took us forever to find the right chameleon it was under, but yeah, we got our's too," Leshawna confirmed.

"Sounds like we're all tied up," Chris observed from his end. "Which is boring. Let's get a move on, people! First class is gonna have an all you can eat surf and turf platter waiting for them tonight."

While a lot of the contestants cheered and started to pick up the pace at the announcement, Dawn couldn't help but frown. She moved to try and use the radio since Anne Maria was currently done with it, only to be surprised by a voice speaking up before her.

"Ya know, that really ain't the best incentive for some of us if we're vegan," DJ said over the airwaves. "The good night's sleep is good enough motivation for me."

The moonchild smiled, pleasantly surprised at getting beat to the punch. She motioned an offer to take the walkie off of Anne Maria's hands. "Agreed. It's bad enough you interfered with these creature's habitat to set up your challenge, it's just cruel to be serving animals afterwards."

Lightning rolled his eyes nearby. "Sha-please. If you ain't gonna eat up, then that's more protein for Lightning once we win!"

Unbeknownst to the athlete, his comment earned him a stink eye from Dawn. Brick took notice of the exchange, shaking his head.

***** Confessional: Brick *****

"I'm really glad to see that Scott has been doing so well proving himself as a changed man. So I've started to think, if he can end up reforming himself, why not Lightning too while we're at it? I think with a bit of help, Lightning could be a stand up guy! His main problem is he just needs to learn the value of teamwork. In this case, that includes practicing some restraint before offending one of your squadmates."

***** In the Madagascan Rainforest *****

Team Explosive trudged through the wilderness, Shawn having spotted some footprints to track that looked similar enough to the ones that led to their first medallion piece. Echoing around them were the squawks of various wild birds, the buzzing of insects, the ribbits of frogs. Or at least realistic recreations of the sounds as Beardo tried to pass the time with his noises.

"Sorry, but this really isn't the best time for ambient noises," Sammy pointed out, having a hard time keeping a lookout around them for anything dangerous with the sounds distracting her.

"Oh. Yeah, you're probably right." Beardo shrunk back sheepishly with an awkward chuckle. "My bad."

While the rest of the team continued on ahead of them, Sugar nonchalantly met the beatboxer at the back of the pack. "Well if you ask me, them noises are just plum cool. I think she may just be jealous."

"Nah, I get that it's probably pretty distracting right now." Still, he chuckled at the compliment. "But you like the sound effects?"

"Fer sure, buddy!" She patted him hard on the back. "Yer like a walking talking zoo! Ya know, except without any actual animals and all. Think you could even pull off a raccoon sound?"

Beardo was a bit taken back by the buddy comment, smirking. "For sure, I can pretty much do any sound effect as long as I've heard what it sounds like once before." To prove his point he pulled off an uncanny impression of a raccoon chattering.

***** Confessional: Beardo *****

"Wow, first Harold and now Sugar? I always thought people found the sound effects annoying, especially after I got booted off first last time." He folded his arms proudly. "Guess I was wrong! Feels nice to be complimented."

***** Confessional: Sugar *****

"Well that was easy." She chuckled mischievously. "Sucker."

***** In the Madagascan Rainforest *****

"Get a load of that beauty," Jasmine said in awe, though the rest of the team was standing vary cautiously behind her. Before them was a large bronze colored crocodile, which sure enough had a necklace around its neck with a medallion piece attached. Nearby were some bones that may or may not have implied an unfortunate fate for the intern that had been tasked with putting it there.

"You got a weird definition of what's beautiful," Dave commented.

"That there's a Nile crocodile! I've tussled with a bunch of crocs in my day, but I've never had the chance to see one of those in person." Looking absolutely giddy like a kid on Christmas morning, she began to limber up. "Fun fact, they're considered to be one of the most dangerous species of crocs on the planet!"

"How is that a fun fact at all?" An increasingly distressed Shawn whispered. "Babe, you sure you can just swoop in and grab that thing around its neck without getting hurt? They're basically the zombies of the reptile world!"

"Ah yeah, I've been wrestling crocs back home since I was a little ankle-bitter." She gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek for reassurance. "Just sit back and watch a pro do her stuff."

With no time to waste, Jasmine carefully jumped right into the fray. Once she was well positioned, she hopped atop the crocodile's back. The critter was startled to say the least, and began rolling in an attempt to shake off the Aussie. But Jasmine held strong, and worked towards retrieving its necklace while her team watched in nervous shock. All except Shawn, who sighed dreamily.

***** Confessional: Shawn *****

"Yeah, I'm pretty much the luckiest dude alive."

***** In the Madagascan Highlands *****

Somehow Team Old School's search had led them away from the rainforest and into a highland area of the island. Thankfully the choice proved a wise one when they spotted a piece of their medallion at the top of baobab tree. However, it was a really tall tree that was relatively smooth with no footholds, so DJ was having a slow progress climbing up the thing.

"And now we have our second piece," announced Dave's voice suddenly through the walkie. "Also, Chris, you may wanna check to make sure the intern you put on crocodile duty made it back alright."

"Yeah, well, we're about to get our second piece too so don't get yourselves too comfy just yet," Leshawna shot back through the device. Though it wasn't too reassuring when she heard a sudden scream from DJ, followed by him sliding down the tree.

"I'm telling y'all, this thing wasn't made for climbing!" He groaned into the dirt, trying to catch his breath.

"Somehow I feel like Izzy would have been good at this," Beth commented, Courtney only acknowledging with an annoyed grunt. "Maybe we can just knock it out of the tree? Throw rocks at it until it falls down?"

The CIT opened her mouth to object, only to pause in realization. "Actually... that's not a bad idea. Everyone pick up some rocks and get to pelting!"

Using some pebbles that were lining the ground around the trees, the contestants started throwing towards the medallion piece as hard as they could manage. All except DJ for the time being, who was still recovering from his rough fall.

Elsewhere, Team Radioactive had also finally managed to locate their next piece. Their searching had brought them towards a plateau grassland area of the island, where Dawn insisted a friendly tomato frog had seen an intern dispersing the medallion parts had set off to. While there may have been some secret doubts as to this frog's advice, it proved to be a useful tip. Though because nothing could be easy, the medallion piece happened to be tied up and dangling from a rope off the side of a rocky massif in the grassy plains. Thanks to the jagged and steep nature of it, there was no easy way to reach it. So for now they were at a stop, figuring out how to actually grab the thing.

"How the heck did they even put the thing there, did they use a jetpack or something?" Scott looked to the side, noticing B looking over the situation in deep thought. "B, you got any idea how to tackle this?"

He tapped his chin, eventually nodding. The silent genius reached into his jacket, finally pulling out a fishhook of all things. He then retrieved a spool of fishing line, miming an indication of what he had planned.

"Yo, we don't all speak sign language, can't you just use that talk box thingy to tell us what's up?" Anne Maria asked. By now the exhaustion was making her increasingly frustrated. "Like come on, you're a smart guy, that hunk of metal surely can't be put together bad."

"It's not that it's put together poorly, it's more the fact that he had such little to work with in the way of supplies on the jet," Dawn answered calmly while B tied the hook to the line. "So because the materials are so low quality, he merely doesn't want to risk overloading the device more than it needs to be used. There's no guarantee he'd have enough scrap to build another in time for the next singing episode."

"Pretty sure he just tried to show that he's gonna try hooking the rope so he can pull it up," Scott added. B looked over at the farmer, eyebrows raised in surprise. He flashed a finger pistol to confirm that it was indeed the plan.

So with that, the team could only stand and wait. It was going to take B a few times to properly hook the rope since it was at such an awkward angle and they had little room to stand properly on the massif. The sun was coming down hard, so most of the team were sweating up a storm as they fanned themselves and tried in vain to cool off.

"Ugh, our last piece better be back where it's cooler," Dakota groaned. "It's so dang hot."

"Sha-no duh. We can all feel the dang heat, girl." Lightning wiped a heap of sweat from his brow in annoyance.

"Well obviously, can't a girl vent?" The heiress huffed, feeling that her makeup was started to run quite a bit thanks to all the sweat. It didn't help that Anne Maria was passing the time next to her by unloading a fresh coat of suffocating hair spray. A rumble from her stomach signaled further distress. "Oh, I really hope we can finally win. That surf and turf would really help right now."

"Again with the talking about defenseless animals as food for our reward?" Dawn sighed, turning away in disappointment.

"I'm just trying to be optimistic since this challenge sucks so much." Another spray from Anne Maria. Scott had taken to sniffing his armpit for some reason, and that gross sight wasn't helping her feel any better. B still hadn't hooked the rope yet, and the lack of update from him thanks to his silence wasn't helping her keep any more calm.

Then it happened. From out of nowhere a flock of herons flew by right where Team Radioactive was at. It wasn't mere coincidence, as one of the birds had miraculously held yet another medallion piece in its talons, perhaps coming to deliver it to Dawn after hearing good things from the tomato frog. But they were coming in way too fast. Only thanks to their loud squawking were most of the contestants alerted to their presence in time to duck out of the way. This wasn't the case for Dakota, who had many of the birds bash into her. Not only was it painful, but it royally ruffled up her hair and scratched up her face in the process. The cherry on top was when she noticed a splotch of white fall from her hair, as apparently one of the herons had been startled enough to go to the bathroom. For what it was worth, the medallion piece was also attached to the white glob, but that wasn't going to help her mood.

Immediately the others sensed danger as Dakota stood there in a stewing rage. The sum of everything had practically made her shake from anger, with only B none the wiser to the growing danger as he had finally managed to hook the rope and was carefully pulling up the medallion piece.

"Now let's just breathe for a minute here," Brick said carefully, arms up defensively as the others began inching away. "We don't want to get angry right now."

"This... challenge... SUCKS!"

It was too late. There wasn't enough room to safely run away, so the others could only watch in terror as their teammate's skin began to turn a deeper shade of orange and she grew in size. B had finished pulling up the rope and had just managed to untie and pocket his team's final piece when he heard the commotion and looked back. Now fully formed into Dakotazoid, the mutant punched the ground to vent her frustration. Unsurprisingly, this was a very very bad idea to do when you were nearly on the side of a high up massif. Sure enough, a chunk of the ground crumbled away, and Team Radioactive was sent hurtling over the side of the massif as a result.

On the bright side, the horrified screams of her teammates finally got Dakotazoid to snap out of her rage.

"OH CRAP!"

Thinking quickly, Dakotazoid used her massive reach to grab each of her teammates and pull them towards her as they plummeted to the ground below. Once she had them all, she held them close to her stomach and turned so that her back was facing down. After a few more seconds they finally hit the bottom, her massive frame causing a small crater to form around them.

"There... friends are... safe," Dakotazoid meekly said with a chuckle before finally passing out from the shock. While they were all uninjured save from some cuts and bruises from the fall, the entirety of the team had also passed out after the impact.

***** Confessional: Dakota *****

"Well... that definitely wasn't one of my better moments."

***** In the Madagascan Rainforest *****

Once they had finally managed to knock their second piece from the baobab tree, Team Old School had decided to double back towards the starting point in a hope to find their third piece along the way. Luck was on their side, as they eventually happened to stumble across a group of ring tailed lemurs. They seemed to have been in the middle of a dancing session, perhaps they liked to move it move it. But more relevant to the contestants, the tallest of the lemurs was holding on to their third medallion piece as a trophy. Now they were in the middle of a chase to get their final part from the mammal.

"I'm about ready to use a rock to solve this part of the challenge too," Courtney said in a huff as the lemur jumped out of the way when she dived towards it.

"We are NOT hurting the animals, this one isn't even violent," DJ loudly protested, though his attempt to run at the medallion piece caused a tree branch to whack him in the face. "Well not on his own at least."

"Corner it so he can't get away," Beth yelled, with the others joining her to run at the lemur from all angles.

They were eventually able to back the critter up against a rock. It clutched the medallion piece protectively, glaring as it watched DJ, Courtney, Trent, Leshawna, and Beth close in. Feeling out of options, it was almost ready to try eating its treasure before a hand swooped down from above and plucked it out of its grasp.

"I'll be taking that, thank you!" The lemur looked up in shock to see Cody perched on top of the rock, having stealthily got into the perfect swiping position while it was distracted by the others. "Pleasure doing business with you, little guy."

Impressed at being outsmarted by humans he had assumed were mindless, the lemur nodded in approval. It then dabbed at them, flossed, and scurried off back into the forest.

Beth blinked in confused shock. "Did that lemur just-"

"Don't acknowledge it, let's just go." Leshawna commanded, everyone nodding in agreement and proceeding to never speak of that again. She pulled out the walkie talkie. "We got our third piece, y'all! Try not to be last while we go enjoy first class again."

Many high fives and whoops of cheer were exchanged while the OGs ran their way back to the starting point. Courtney had even taken the time to put the three pieces together to form the completed medallion. Since neither of the other two teams had called in about finding their third piece, victory seemed inevitable. With a skip in their step and a song in their hearts, Team Old School finally made it back to the beach where Chris and Chef were... and where they were also joined by Team Explosive.

"What the... how the heck are they here?" A flabbergasted Trent blurted out.

"Oh, we found our third piece about an hour ago," Sammy said, giving the enemies an apologetic smile. "We tracked it to some mud where it was hid under a pile of worms."

"Which was totally gross, by the way," Dave added with a shiver.

"And totally yummy!" Sugared belched in satisfaction, even rubbing her tummy for added affect. "Always did love me some gummy worms!"

"We already told you that they weren't... ah never mind." Jasmine shook her head, focusing on the other team. "Anyway, we didn't ring in about finding it since we figured it would have lit a serious fire under the other teams and we really wanted to win. Sorry, mates. But on the bright side you're not the last team to arrive, so you aren't going to elimination."

Chris and Chef looked at each other, the host lowering his sunglasses in what could almost be mistaken as concern. "Where IS Team Radioactive anyway? We haven't heard an update from them in a while."

Seeing that his comrade was giving him an expecting stare, Chef sighed and got up from his comfy chair. "I'll go check the gosh darn cameras."

Elsewhere in the Madagascan grasslands, the various members of Team Radioactive began to wake up and groan in pain.

***** Confessional: Courtney *****

"Ugh, just when we got a taste of first class of course Team Explosive wins it back again. Oh well, I guess not being the losing team is better than nothing." She sighed, looking out the window in thought. "I wonder who Team Radioactive is gonna vote off. Probably... wait a minute."

***** On the Jumbo Jet *****

Courtney peaked around the corner, looking into the common area. Scott was sitting there alongside Dawn, B, and Brick. She took a deep breath, stepping forward to say something... only to immediately change her mind and quickly walk away to economy class instead. The dirt farmer looked back after thinking he had heard a noise, but shrugged when he saw nothing there.

"Everyone doing alright?" Brick asked as he handed out ice packs to the others. He was applying one to the back of his own neck, and all were still showing a fair amount of bruises. "Heck of a nasty fall we took."

B gave a thumbs up to signify his lack of injury, though Scott was looking much more spiteful. "That's an understatement, she almost got us killed! Between what happened today and Japan, she's gotta go. It ain't worth keeping her around when we gotta worry about Dakotazoid coming out at any moment."

"We should take into account that Dakota isn't able to help her condition, and while it doesn't lead to the most peaceful solutions she HAS saved us before in Antarctica thanks to Dakotazoid," Dawn pointed out, icing an ankle she propped up on another stool. "Personally, I haven't appreciated Lightning's attitude as of late. I'm not sure he has any respect for animals. He was even feeding his own protein powder irresponsibly to the pig in the last challenge!"

Brick raised his eyebrows in concern. "Well, I don't know if he really knew any better. I think it'd be safe to say Lightning isn't the most aware member of the team, so he just needs to be educated is all. Plus, his strength is definitely an asset to the team." He winced as he felt a small bit of soreness from his neck. "As for Dakota, I've gotta agree with Scott. I don't mean to think less of her because of the condition she can't control, but it can't be ignored if she's going to be a danger to not only us but herself."

Dawn seemed ready to protest, but was surprised to see even B nod in agreement, pointing a thumb at the dirt farmer and giving a thumbs up to signal his approval. Sighing, the pale girl relented. "I suppose you're right."

***** Confessional: Scott *****

"Dawn and Beverly actually agreeing with what I have to say?" He chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. "Man, what a world."

***** At the Elimination Ceremony *****

With the votes placed and someone's fate locked, the seven members of Team Radioactive shuffled into the elimination area. Chris was looking smug as always while he retrieved the plate of peanut filled barf bags.

"Ah, welcome back guys! I knew you couldn't stay away from me long when we started out the season with you all here." He chuckled ominously, obviously none of the others looking happy to be there. "Well let's get right into it, shall we? Anne Maria, Dawn, B, all of you get some peanuts."

All three of them caught their bags with nothing to say on the matter, as if that would be a shock for one in particular.

"Brick, you're also safe even after you decided to stop for a date with the spiders."

The cadet shivered from the creepy crawly memory, nearly missing his bag as it was tossed his way.

"Aaaaand... Lightning. You might be a cocky jerk, but you're a strong cocky jerk." He threw the athlete his bag. "You're also safe."

"Sha-duh," he replied, catching his immunity symbol all the same.

"Oh come on, I didn't even do anything wrong this time," Scott protested, only receiving a sharp glare from Dakota for the outburst.

Chris cleared his throat, getting the attention back on himself. "As I was saying. Dakota, you're on the block because your mutant rage almost got your teammates killed." She looked down in shame. "And Scott, you're on the chopping block because you are, indeed, still Scott."

He merely growled in frustration, mumbling obscenities under his breath while Chef opened the hatch. There was then gasps as the co-host brandished TWO parachutes and threw one to each of the contestants in trouble.

"Oh no, is it a double elimination?" Dakota asked in shock.

"Nah, just a single," Chris answered while Chef wheeled out a strange platform type thing. It had two spots to stand on and was on wheels. It also had a handle that Chef could keep a hold of. "We're just doing something a bit different for my patented dramatic pause of this elimination."

Seeing that everyone was properly confused, Chris continued. "Because you two are in unique situations, I thought it would be a fun dramatic twist for our loser to get the boot without any time to react and say their goodbyes."

"How does that make any sense?" Scott asked, his voice rising in a mix of panic and anger.

"Simple, if Dakota is eliminated it saves us the trouble of her potentially getting mad and wrecking the plane while we're all on it," Chris answered. "And if YOU get eliminated, it means you'll be denied a chance to go and finally make up with Courtney. It's the kinda juicy cliffhanger that leaves viewers wanting more, you'd have no chance to give her some parting words!"

"Actually, I did write her down a note on some toilet paper to give in case I get the axe." He dug into his pants, handing a wad of toilet paper to a very grossed out Brick. "Speaking of, give this to Courtney if I'm voted off, will ya?"

"That's... incredibly gross." Shaking his head in disappointment, Chris motioned towards the movable platforms. "Just strap on your parachutes and get on the dang things."

The dirt farmer and rich girl locked eyes, both trying to remain confident as they got into position with the parachutes on. Once they were in place, Chef began pushing and pulling the device back and forth. With each push it would be Scott standing in front of the open hatch, and with each pull it was Dakota in front of it. He continued to push and pull with sadistic glee as the two's confidence quickly melted away into nervous panic.

"Scott... Dakota... the one getting the boot tonight is..."

Both closed their eyes, anticipating the worst while Chef continued to move them back and forth. The rest of the team watched on nervously, while Chris smirked at the rising tension. But eventually the Boot of Shame did come swinging down, kicking square into the face of...

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... Dakota.

"Dakota is out," Chris confirmed, the heiress' scream echoing as she fell to the Earth below. "Scott, you live to see another day. But, uh, pro tip my guy? Please don't give Courtney that nasty ass toilet paper. That's just a bad idea."

Chris tossed the safe boy his barf bag, Scott completely ignoring it hitting him in the head as he stepped off the platform and heaved a heavy sigh. "Holy crap, never do that thing for an elimination again."

***** In Economy Class *****

Most of Team Old School were settling into their seats, obviously not too happy about the downgrade in living arrangements after enjoying first class. Cody was the lone missing member, having already excused himself to go join Sammy and the others in the cargo hold. Beth noticed that Courtney was looking particularly conflicted, nudging her to get her attention.

"Something on your mind?"

"No," she lied. "Just disappointed we couldn't get first class again, that's all."

The farm girl wasn't convinced. It didn't make matters any more convincing when Team Radioactive finally filled in after their elimination. Dawn, B, Brick, and Scott immediately branched off to to the cargo hold as well, but their passing through was at least able to confirm who got the axe.

"Dakota, huh?" Leshawna commented, shaking her head. "Dang. Maybe I should have apologized to white girl for going off on her so hard. Ah well, guess her and Harold can hash it out on the Aftermath."

Once things quieted back now, Beth could see Courtney looking much more relaxed. She chuckled. "Guess you're glad it wasn't Scott that got voted off, huh?"

"Oh shut up," the CIT answered. "I'm just glad that Dakota is out of the game. As Dakotazoid she was objectively the physically strongest and fastest of us by far, so it's good to have that threat out of the way early."

"Uh huh," DJ said flatly. "Sure."

***** Cockpit Confessional: DJ *****

"Who does she think she's fooling? Like come on, how long do we gotta drag this out before she just admits that she still likes the guy and does something about it?" He folded his arms and shook his head. "Relationship drama, man. Sure am glad I've never got caught up in that junk."

"Well there's a first time for everything, DJ my man," Chris practically yelled, startling the brickhouse who seemed to forget there were indeed two other people in the cockpit with him. "Who knows, maybe this will be the season some fine honey has her eyes on you."

"Me personally, I've always shipped him with Katie, but you said bringing her and Sadie back wouldn't do anything for ratings," Chef added, sounding disappointed. "Oh, maybe him and Ella would vibe pretty well?"

"She isn't on this season, and I don't intend on ever letting her back anytime for the foreseeable future," Chris said in a huff. "She should be happy the network asked her to help host the aftermath."

DJ watched the back and forth as confused as could be. "Uuuuh, I think I'll be going no-"

"Will DJ get his hook up on and finally find his OTP?" Chris interrupted, throwing an arm around his shoulder.

"OT what?"

"Which girl would fall for our beloved brickhouse?" Chris continued to ignore the contestant, though DJ looked at the camera in confused fear. "Will Team Radioactive ever get to win first class for once? Will Rodney go down in Total Drama history as its biggest simp now that Cody is un-simping himself?"

"What he heck is a-" DJ began to ask before Chris released his grip, causing him to fall to the floor.

"You may find out the answer to these questions next time, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

**Voting Confessionals:**

Anne Maria gives Scott's passport a stamp, wincing a bit at the soreness in her arm. "Sure, Dakota may have got me a bit scratched up, but at least the poof is in tact. The way I see it, she's probably the closest thing I got to an ally right now, so I'd still rather kick off Scotty."

Silent as ever, B gave Dakota's passport a stamp and nodded for emphasis.

"I don't think it would reflect poorly on me at this point to say Dakotazoid is pretty darn scary. With what happened today, and what happened to Harold, I'm sorry but this is the right thing to do." Brick stamped Dakota's passport.

Dakota was looking nervous, to say the least. Dread was creeping into her eyes. "This is sooo bad. I really hope I can work past this Dakotazoid nastiness. Please let me stay for a bit longer." She stamped Scott's passport.

"The more I thought it over, the more I realized the others are correct. This game is simply not the environment for Dakota to be in with her condition. It'll bring nothing but harm in the future if she stays. Both for us, and herself." Dawn gave Dakota's passport a gentle stamp. "Once she returns home, I'm confident that being surrounded by loved ones will help her better than this game ever would."

Lightning took a look at Dakota's passport, but eventually tossed it to the side to stamp Scott's. "Sure, mutant girl messed up today almost getting people killed. Not cool. But did ya see that punch? Sha-bam! Lightning respects strength like that, it's good for the team. And since Lightning overheard her and Annie wanting to vote off Scott, that's good enough for him."

Scott glared a bit as he gave Dakota's passport a stamp. "This is twice now I've been banged up thanks to Dakotazoid's mutant strength. What is she trying to do, pass up Fang's record? Call me crazy, but I ain't waiting around to be put in a wheelchair like she did to Harold."

Votes for Dakota: 4 (B, Brick, Dawn, Scott)

Votes for Scott: 3 (Anne Maria, Dakota, Lightning)

**After the Boot of Shame:**

The suddenness of the elimination method had Dakota screaming for a good while, though she was finally able to adjust and safely deploy her parachute. Once she was finally able to regain her breath and composure, she sighed at the camera. "This sucks on so many levels. I wanted to come back to Total Drama to make new friends and work past this stupid Dakotazoid condition. But after a bunch of bruises and putting someone in a wheelchair, what do I have to show for it? Squat."

She grunted in frustration, kicking at the wind. "I mean, I get it. I really lost my cool today. Dakotazoid almost got my friends killed, between that and injuring Harold OF COURSE they would be afraid to keep me. Still, it's all just so frustrating! I didn't even get a fair chance to prove myself. And that jerk Scott not only stole Sam's spot on the cast but gets to stay longer than me?"

It was just as she was about to land that the frustration was reaching a climax. Below, in the middle of the Madagascan rainforest, a fossa began lurking towards its prey. A cowering family of lemurs were backed against a tree, awaiting their demise. But suddenly, what seemed like a comet struck the ground behind them. The fossa looked back, trying to see through the cloud of dirt. Suddenly, a deafening roar was heard, and Dakotazoid emerged from the rubble. The fossa ran off in fear, though so did the lemurs while the mutant girl ran by. She punched at trees to vent out her frustration.

"THIS SUCKS SO MUCH!"

**Remaining Contestants:**

Team Old School: Beth, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Leshawna, Trent

Team Radioactive: Anne Maria, B, Brick, Dawn, Lightning, Scott

Team Explosive: Amy, Beardo, Dave, Jasmine, Sammy, Shawn, Sugar

**Elimination Order:**

20th: Dakota

21st: Rodney

22nd: Harold

23rd: Izzy

24th: Staci

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is staying safe out there in these crazy times. Gonna start trying to make an effort to included author's notes for my updates on here as well.
> 
> This chapter's song, "Dread These Pains," was a reference to Africa by Toto. Originally the Toto song was actually just going to be what I referenced in the chapter title while the actual song would be a reference to What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. But I ultimately decided to switch their roles, hence the title now being a reference to the Armstrong song. As for Dakota, she was just a victim of me not having any real plans for her long term. Her condition could potentially help her team like it did in Antarctica, but it also made her pretty dangerous so she was destined to have an early boot. Next chapter is actually the final one before the first Aftermath, and hopefully those chapters will get done much sooner rather than later. Also with this chapter I've established that Cody/Sammy is going to be a thing. I know, Cody being ship bait is pretty common throughout the fandom, but I'm hoping they'll come out as a fun pairing for the story.
> 
> Let me know what any of you readers out there think. Big thanks to TheSparklyKitten and CactusPot for the comments thus far! See you all in the next one.


	7. When the Doom Hits Your Eye

"Last time on Total Drama Battle of the generations," Chris began. "The 20 remaining players were dropped off in Madagascar, emphasis on the dropped, and we tasked them to find three pieces of their team medallion scattered throughout the island. They searched high and low, coming up close and personal with a bunch of the local wildlife. Everything from small chameleons and lemurs, to the ferocious feline fossa!"

"Actually, despite resembling a cat, the fossa is actually more closely related to the mongoose," Chef pointed out in an odd British accent, having somehow acquired a pair of glasses. "Speaking of which, did you know that the male fossa has a spine covered and extremely long-"

Chris slapped his cohort upside the head, bringing him back to his senses. "As I was saying. The teams fought hard, but it was Team Explosive who bounced back to win thanks to Shawn and Jasmine's stellar tracking skills. On the flipside, Dakota let the stress of the challenge get the better of her, and Dakotazoid emerged with a vengeance! And by that I mean she almost got her entire team killed. Needless to say, it wasn't too much of a shock when she was the one sent packing."

The view moved back to the two hosts in the cockpit. "Things are getting nice and juicy. Relationships forming, alliances scheming, backs just begging to get stabbed! This should be one heck of an action packed episode, so sit right there and get ready for some TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATION!"

***** Opening Credits *****

Economy class was relatively quiet following Dakota's elimination. With Cody and over half of Team Radioactive away in the cargo hold, there wasn't much in the way of conversing going on. Beth was showing DJ how to make friendship bracelets, while Courtney watched in reluctant interest since there wasn't much of anything else to do. Trent and Leshawna were playing some sort of card game utilizing a deck that the musician had sneaked in to help pass the time. As for the other team, Lightning was utilizing the overhead storage area as a pullup bar. Had to work with what he had.

"You need me to keep count again or something?" Anne Maria offered from nearby. "I ain't got nothin better to do, so..."

"Nah, Lightning's just gonna keep going until it's time for dinner, gotta bulk up to carry this team so we don't lose again."

A bit miffed at the comment but not wanting to cause a scene, the Jersey girl just sat back and sighed.

***** Confessional: Anne Maria *****

"I don't know how Scottie boy did it, but it looks like he got in good with a bunch of the team. First Staci leaves over him and now Dakota? These other guys stupid or something?" She grunted in frustration. "Now I guess I'm on the outs with the team. It's probably me or Lightning going next, so I may as well try and work with him to watch each other's backs. Or if I gotta, maybe throw him under the bus to save my butt if we keep on losing. Girl's gotta stay in the game somehow."

***** In First Class *****

Sometime after the zombie search had come and gone, it was time for Team Explosive to retake first class. True to Chris' word, they were treated to an "all you can eat" surf and turf dinner. But clearly that label didn't account for Sugar being on the winning team, as the others had just barely been able to make their second plate before she had devoured the rest of the feast into the black abyss she called a stomach. She finished the food slaughter with a loud echoing burp that was likely heard by other planes in the surrounding sky.

"Lovely," Jasmine mumbled as she, Shawn, and Sammy moved to the other side of the room. "How is she still here again?"

"Same reason as Amy, they got lucky being on a team that keeps winning," Shawn pointed out, letting a bit of cockiness seep into his tone.

"And the whole Rodney thing in Amy's case, but no use dwelling on that," Sammy added, grinning. "But yeah, you two should really look into letting the masseuse give you a couple's massage. Your backs are probably pretty sore from carrying this team."

Both smirked, though Jasmine tried to wave it off. "Ah, come off it. Almost the whole team has been pulling their weight, don't undersell yourself."

Nearby, Beardo beatboxed to himself in between bites, trying to keep it relatively quiet so as to not disturb the others eating. Sugar took the opportunity to take a seat next to him and tossed over a deep fried ball of cornmeal.

"Saved ya an extra hushpuppy, bud," she said jovially.

"Thanks!"

While he continued with his meal, the pageant queen looked over the room to size up the situation. Shawn, Jasmine, and Sammy were gathered together in their own corner of the room, which was by now the norm. Amy was keeping to herself since she wanted to eat her food in peace, not that she was the biggest seafood fan anyway. Last was Dave, who was also eating solo and seemed to be in a bummed out state of deep thought. Inside her simple yet sinister mind, the cogs were turning.

***** Confessional: Sugar *****

"Getting on Beardo's good side was plum easy! Easier than I thought it'd be, really. So I've been thinking, why should me n Amy stop there? Sure, Beardo will probably vote with me, but that's still only three people. Just the same as the others. Dave's the odd man out. If we get Dave on our side." She chuckled darkly. "That'd just be right as rain!"

***** In the Common Area *****

Everyone shuffled in for the daily breakfast, though the food didn't seem to be ready yet. With nothing better to do, they passed the time by shooting the breeze.

"So each location has had an elimination thus far," Brick pointed out to the room. "You guys think we'll have a reward challenge soon like the original World Tour?"

"I'm not so sure," DJ said. "It had a bunch of them, but the cast in World Tour was a fair bit smaller. "Even back in the first season our cast wasn't as big and that had, what, two non elimination challenges?"

"Yeah, Brunch of Disgustingness and that time the final four were castaways." Cody chuckled. "Unless you count Mr. Coconut's elimination, I guess."

Leshawna grunted in frustration. "Tch, I shoulda been in that episode, still can't believe I got robbed like that when you fools had the chance to vote Heather off for free."

Beth smirked, putting her hands up innocently. "Hey, I'm clean! I would have voted for her if I had the chance before the others messed it up."

DJ and Cody nodded in agreement, though Trent and Courtney were forced to drop their heads in shame thanks to playing a part in that elimination years ago.

"You guys wanna talk about robbed?" Anne Maria waved her hand dismissively. "Our cast had plenty of that going around."

As Scott was sitting between B and Dawn, both gave him a pointed look that made him sink awkwardly into his seat with a chuckle.

"Would it be weird for me to say I always felt bad for Max?" Shawn asked his teammates. "He literally just said an offhand comment and Chris decided to eliminate him for it. I mean, yeah he was annoying, but it's not like he was the one to almost blow up the island."

"Ella got done pretty dirty too," Sammy added.

"She didn't get done dirty enough," Sugar grumbled from her seat, her belly growling for nourishment. "Where in the Sam Hill is our food at?"

On cue, Chef emerged from the cockpit with a rolling cart full of dishes. Though as he began to place them in front of everyone, they were confused to see spaghetti and meatballs, alongside bread sticks as their meal. As for DJ and Dawn there was tofu instead of meatballs.

"Not that I'm complaining, but who the heck serves spaghetti for breakfast?" Trent asked quizzically after prodding the meatball to confirm nothing was off about it.

Their answer came in the form of Chef brandishing an accordion from under the roll cart after he had finished passing out the food. He began to serenade the players with a shockingly well played rendition of Funiculi Funicula. Or the pizza song as some people knew it.

As everyone pondered what was going on, it was Chris' turn to make his entrance. Oddly enough, considering who was playing the accordion, he came in dressed with a stereotypical white chef's outfit, complete with a thick black curly mustache. In one hand he held a rolling pin while he made the standard Italian hand gesture with the other. Many of the contestants seemed flabbergasted, though Anne Maria looked ready to throw hands.

"Bongiorno," Chris announced in a butchered thick Italian accent. "It's a me, Chrisio! Today we got a spicy meat-a-ball of a challenge!"

"Is this racist or REALLY racist?" Brick asked Dawn in a whisper, genuinely unsure how offended he should be.

If she had a sleeve, Anne Maria would be rolling it up as she approached the host with her nail file held threateningly. "Yo, if you wanna make us out to be a joke, I'll show you how Italians react to disrespect REAL quick, bucko."

Sensing a genuine threat, he motioned for Chef to cease the music and ripped off the fake mustache. "Now now, we're just having a bit of fun. As you may have gathered by now, we're heading off to Italy! Specifically, we're going to the beautiful town of Venice."

There was an array of happy mumbles, with Jasmine in particular looking optimistic at the prospect. "Hey, Venice is pretty romantic. It's one of the places I've always wanted to go with Shawn."

"It's definitely gorgeous and rich with history." Dawn frowned a bit. "It's just a shame that heavy tourism and pollution has made its natural beauty have a harder time coming out in recent years."

"I'm just surprised he's not going to Rome to make up for that World Tour gaffe," Trent pointed out. "But yeah, Venice is awesome! We always roll through here when we're doing shows in Italy."

"And as for what challenge you'll be doing there." Chris was handed three pizza boxes by Chef and sat them down with a loud thud. Or at least as loud a thud as three empty cardboard boxes could manage. "Pizza time!"

No one seemed to know what Chris meant.

"... You'll each be preparing a pizza to be enjoyed by yours truly! Best pizza as judged by me wins themselves a night in first class."

"So that's it? We're just baking a pizza and we're done?" Dave asked.

"Well obviously there's more to it, but we'll go into the details when we land. For now, your task is to simply choose a head chef to oversee what kind of pizza you'll be serving your beloved host."

As host and co-host took their leave, one contestant was already getting plenty of encouragement from their team.

"DJ's probably the best cook that's ever been on the show, we make him our head chef and we've got first class as good as won," Courtney said, receiving numerous nods of approval.

"No arguments here, I'd trust homeboy's cooking to pull us through any day of the week," Leshawna added.

While he was appreciative of the praise, the brickhouse in question wasn't looking so sure. "I don't know, guys. Knowing Chris he'll want some meat on his pie and it's been a long time since I've cooked up anything that wasn't vegan friendly."

"Well knowing you, you'd probably make a vegan pizza more delicious than the others without any meat needed," Trent reassured with a pat on the shoulder. "You got this, big guy."

Meanwhile with Team Radioactive, it was clear who wanted to take the reigns more than anyone else.

"Ya girl's got Italian blood pumping through her veins. I'm down in little Italy every week having the best pizza New York has to offer." Anne Maria cracked her knuckles for added effect. "You let me take the cooking and I'll blow his dang socks off."

No one felt the need to argue since it was clear she was the only one eager to take the job. The rest had varying degrees of cooking experience, but they all seemed to agree that Anne Maria would be the best suited to make this one. But while they seemed to have reached a consensus, Team Explosive was looking fairly hesitant.

***** Confessional: Shawn *****

"A cooking contest is pretty much the one thing not suited for Jasmine and I's skillset," he said while scratching his chin in thought. "I mean, I'm pretty good with cakes and pastries, but outside of that I've always been a canned foods kinda guy when I make my meals. This might actually be pretty tough for once."

***** In the Common Area *****

"So... any takers?" Jasmine asked, feeling the tiniest bit nervous while noticing the confidence radiating from Anne Maria and DJ's team.

"I don't really know much about cookin pizza, but I always like eating pizza so I know my way around what's yummy or not," Sugar offered.

"Somehow I doubt that's a good idea," Dave shot back. "You'd end up eating the pizza before we could give it to Chris, kinda like Owen back in season 1."

Amy and Sammy exchanged glares. Both knew that neither of them were too proficient with cooking, and they were prepared to call the other out on it if they decided to volunteer. Finally, Beardo was the one to raise his hand.

"I mean, I wouldn't call myself like an expert or nothing, but since I've been living on my own in an apartment for the last year I cook a bunch of my meals," he explained. "That's included a few pizzas. If no one else wants to do it, I'm down for giving it a try."

After one last scan to confirm no one else was interested, Jasmine nodded in approval. "If you're up to it, then that sounds good here mate. Can't say that I've ever baked a pizza myself, so your bit of experience is better than none."

With the head chefs all squared away, it was just a matter of waiting for the plane to land. As they descended over the waterway filled city, they actually landed on a long island nearby known as Lido di Venezia. Technically part of Venice, kinda, but situated away from the main landmass. Soon enough they were lead to a beach where three large gondolas awaited them. While Chris was back in his normal outfit, Chef was now clad in full gondolier outfit complete with white and black striped shirt and straw hat.

"So here's the rundown," Chris began as he motioned to the gondolas. "Venice is best known for its various canals that are navigated through by their signature gondolas. So obviously, we'll have you guys traveling in style."

Once all three boats were in place, Chef joined the host's side to display a map of Venice. "While y'all are gonna be allowed to go up the smaller paths if ya need to, the main trip is gonna take ya straight down the Grand Canal. Ya gonna have five stops along the way to get your pizza fixings."

Indeed, there were five red dots throughout the Venice map, with a gold dot near the end of the canal path. Chef pointed to the red dots one at a time. "First up you'll park ya boats near Doge's Palace to head into Piazza San Marco. You'll get the stuff to make your dough there. Next ya got Palazzo Grassi, where you'll get the stuff for your sauce. After that you'll be going under the Rialto Bridge, and danging underneath that will be your cheese supplies."

Noticing some confused looks as to what dangling meant, he merely chuckled. "Y'all will figure it out. Next you'll stop near Marco Polo's house, around it will be all the different toppings you could ask for. Finally, near the end you'll get to Chiesa di San Simeon Piccolo. One of Venice's big fancy schmancy old churches. Seasonings, herbs, spices, and all that jazz will be chilling there." He pointed to the final gold dot on the map. "After all that you'll meet up on the Constitution Bridge, we've got you some ovens set up there to put it all together."

"You guys get all of that?" Chris chuckled. "In short, there's five spots on your gondola ride between here and your final destination. Once you're at the end, you'll make your pizza and I'll judge who our lucky winners and unlucky losers will be."

"How are we gonna hold all of our ingredients?" Beth asked. "Do we just leave it laying on the floor of the boat?"

Chris shrugged. "Pretty much. But since I'm feeling generous, we'll give you some old sacks to haul your stuff with in case you kids are thinking of making something fancy. On that note, be finalizing what kind of pizza you each want to make, because presentation can play a factor."

Chef passed out the rucksacks to the teams. They were fairly large, but probably wouldn't be able to fit everything after all five locations had been visited.

***** Confessional: Beardo *****

"A'ight, so the way I see it I gotta get a little creative with my pizza choice to try and wow Chris. I ain't tried much in the way of weirder recopies, but my ma once gave me the idea for a Cajun pizza that was like..." He moved his hands in a "mind blown" fashion and did some fireworks sound effects for emphasis. "Hopefully it comes out good. It'll be a bit trickier to make, but I figure I can't just serve him a plain pepperoni pizza and call it a day."

***** In the Gondolas *****

"Ok, so we're gonna be doing a classic New York style pepperoni, heavy on the cheese," Anne Maria explained as her team loaded into their gondola.

"What, that's it?" Scott asked in surprise. "Shouldn't we do something more fancy to try and impress him?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Well of course it's gonna have more fixings to it, but we gotta keep it simple. Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Now who's gonna steer this thing?"

The team looked a bit unsure, but it was too late now to change their mind on the head chef. B decided to take over the gondola steering, with Shawn and Courtney on similar duties nearby.

"So y'all are cool with me going ahead with the vegan pizza idea?" DJ asked one more time, part of him nervous that he'd be in danger of getting votes if they ended up losing. "Since the others are probably gonna do their pizza normal style, I was thinking of trying out my deep dish recipe."

He received various nods of approval from his teammates, Cody even giving a thumbs up. "Stop worrying so much, man. You're like the last person that should be on edge in a cooking challenge, we trust you with this."

With everyone in position and ready to rumble, Chris gave a mighty blow from his airhorn. The teams were off... at a very leisurely pace. While all three of the contestants manning the oars seemed to do well enough steering the boat and propelling it forward, it wasn't exactly built for speed.

"Uh, can we get a move on?" Sugar asked impatiently. "Why ya taking yer sweet time for?"

"It's a gondola, not a speedboat," Shawn pointed out. "The whole point of these things is to stroll through Venice all slow and romantic. I can't really make it go any faster."

The first stop was a fair bit away, so all everyone could do was wait and take in the Venetian beauty. The weather was nice and sunny, some locals and tourists could be seen roaming the streets, and the faint echoes of street music could be heard. It was all quite beautiful, until Sugar leaned over the side of the boat and stuck her head into the water.

"What are you doing?" Sammy asked, unnerved.

"Thought I saw a fishy! Tried to grab it with my teeth, but the dang varmint got away." Settling back into her seat, she elbowed Beardo. "So what kinda pizza we cooking up, head chef?"

"I've got this Cajun recipe in mind that I've made before. Assuming they got all the stuff for it, I think Chris is gonna love it."

Deciding to give the boat ride a bit of ambience, Beardo began imitating an accordion playing Tarantella Napoletana. It could even be heard from the other two boats, though no one seemed to mind since it made for a relaxing atmosphere in a challenge for once.

"I think I can see that Doge's Palace place up ahead," Leshawna eventually said as she scanned the upcoming buildings. "Still a bit before we get there, but it ain't far."

"Heh, Doge's Palace." Cody snickered. "Wow. Very Italy. Such Venice. Much elegant. Wow."

He was promptly slapped upside the head by Trent, who checked to make sure the other boats hadn't heard him out of secondhand cringe.

After a few minutes of relatively peaceful sailing, Team Radioactive was the first team to come to a stop near Doge's Palace. B made sure to carefully position the boat in a way that'd be easy to get back into for his team, and the group was off with bag in hand. Team Old School was the next to arrive, with Team Explosive bringing up the rear. On the way to Piazza San Marco, they took in the surrounding architecture. Namely Doge's Palace and an elegant cathedral near it.

Brick whistled. "They got some real fancy looking places around here."

"Focus, big guy," Anne Maria urged as they came into the Piazza proper. It was a huge square space that gave view to not only the buildings they had already passed, but other unique locals like a clocktower. "A'ight, so if this is where we're getting our stuff for the crust we're gonna need flour, yeast, salt, olive oil, and water. And some sugar wouldn't hurt. I'll handle picking out the water, you guys pick something each and toss it in the sack."

"Watcha mean you're gonna pick out the water, it's water!" Lightning looked even more perplexed than usual. "What sha-difference does it make?"

"All the difference," she answered. "Now let's smoke these other bozos while we got first pickings."

Different stations had been set up in various areas of the Piazza for each respective part. Though some stations were time wasters that wouldn't be worth going towards, like the one where you could pick up nail clippings and shaved hair for your crust. Dawn retrieved a small container of salt, Brick located the yeast, Scott handled the sugar, and B found the olive oil. Lightning saw a few options of which flour to go for, but opted for the one that was higher in protein.

Last was Anne Maria, who found the water station. There was everything from bottles of water from a vending machine, to just a bucket of water from the canal. She scanned and scanned, tossing aside one container labeled sewer water until she finally located a bottle near the back that was listed as "New York City Imported Water."

"Ha! Found it." She kissed the bottle and ran back towards her squad, while members from the other two teams were now fanning out to get supplies of their own. Most of the players opted to just continue carrying their item back to the gondola, though B handed their head chef his container of olive oil since he would have to drive.

Team Old School and Explosive more or less picked identical items for their crust. They both went for standard local filtered water when given the choice, and the only difference came when Jasmine opted to also get the high protein flour while DJ picked out a more all purpose variety. It wasn't long before all three teams were back in their gondolas and sailing back down the canal.

***** Confessional: Trent *****

"I gotta say, it's a pretty rad change of pace to have a chill challenge for once. Not that I'm complaining, but it's pretty surprising having one like this considering how Chris is, ya know?"

Suddenly Chris shot the door open and poked his head in, startling Trent off the toilet. "Well my dude, the way I see it since I'm eating the food you guys are making, I'd rather not risk you messing up and feeding me something nasty."

"There was literal sewer water and nail clippings as cooking options down there!" Trent dusted himself off, still looking unnerved by the host's presence. "Also why do you keep barging in on me in here?"

"Well yeah, we put those options there because it's funny, but obviously you wouldn't pick them if you want to win. And because you keep forgetting to lock the door. You should work on that, by the way."

***** On the Grand Canal *****

Anne Maria took inventory of their current ingredient count, nodding in approval. She glanced up at B as he calmly steered them towards the Palazzo Grassi. "Yo big guy, think you can guard the goods while we get out for the next stop? Don't wanna risk someone from the other team being a sleazeball and tossing our stuff into the water while we're gone."

The silent genius raised his eyebrows in impressed surprise. He nodded and flashed a finger pistol in agreement.

"Hey, that ain't a bad idea," Scott noted, equally impressed with the thought. "Since we're in the lead and the others will be gone by the time we get back, we could-"

He noticed Dawn giving him an expecting look, then chuckled. "Nah, never mind. They'll probably pick out someone to guard their junk too once they see B doing it."

Sure enough he was right on the money. As they parked at their next destination and headed in while B lingered behind, the other teams took notice.

"I'll guard the boat and-" Courtney began

"Make sure our stuff is safe," Shawn finished from nearby.

Conveniently, the Grassi Palace was right on the side of the Grand Canal and had docks that made parking in front of it relatively easy for everyone. With every driver sticking back to keep the ingredients safe, now it was a matter of locating the sauce. It was a large art building, and they were getting turned around among all the displays and sculptures without finding any food.

Finally, after going past some columns towards a sculpture that resembled a balloon dog, it was actually Team Explosive to find the sauce station first.

"Huh, I ain't seeing no garlic," Beardo pointed out as they looked over the relatively small selection for sauce components. "I'm really gonna need it for this plan to work."

"It's probably at the last location, there isn't any oregano or other stuff you'd usually see in a pizza recipe here," Sammy pointed out, looking back to see Team Radioactive fast approaching. "If we wanna keep first pick though, we need to hurry."

Trusting that she was likely right, the beatboxer swiped up a can of fire roasted tomatoes and they were on their way out. Anne Maria took the lead ahead of her teammates and quickly scanned over the sauce options since Team Old School had heard the talking and were also closing in on the location.

"Surprised they didn't just give us whole tomatoes on their own as an option," she mumbled, eventually picking out her favorite brand of tomato sauce that she could find. "Alright, let's move it people!"

As Team Old School took their turn while Team Radioactive left, DJ ran into the same problem as Beardo before him. "They're missing a bunch of the fixings I'd put in the sauce, all they got here is the tomato. Guess we need to keep moving."

Once he had selected a can of tomato puree, it was back to the gondolas for everyone. Now Team Explosive was ahead of the pack, but the rest wasn't far behind. Once they had turned a corner of the canal it was a straight shot to their next stop, the large Rialto Bridge up ahead. Jasmine was able to scan the upcoming mark, eventually able to faintly make out their next challenge.

As Chef had hinted, the cheese options were quite literally dangling from the bottom of the bridge. As in packets of cheese attached to rope that was taped to the bottom of the bridge. While they weren't too terribly high up, it was just high enough where grabbing them would cause a bit of issue.

"I might be able to jump high enough to grab them thanks to my reach, but it'd be close," Jasmine said as the rest of the team looked at the upcoming obstacle.

"Well I'm gonna need mozzarella and gouda," Beardo explained. "And parmesan if it's here and not at the last location. We can't get all that with just one jump. This'll be tricky."

Sammy thought over their options, also noting how the height would make things pretty hard for the rest of their team other than Jasmine. Eventually an idea hit, though it wasn't one that made her thrilled. "Amy, if we can just put our crap away for a second, I think we might actually be able to help the others pull this off." Getting a confused look from her twin, she continued. "We can just bounce them up like we do to get the girls back home on top of the human pyramid."

As much as the mere thought of working with her sister repulsed the mean twin, feeling the looks from the rest of her team made her sigh in acceptance. "Fine. But we're gonna have a hard time hoisting up some of them."

"Dave, Jasmine, and Shawn would be the lightest options," Beardo pointed out. "I can take over driving for Shawn while y'all do your thing."

With the bridge fast approaching, the two boys quickly switched out while the sisters got into position with their hands at the ready. Jasmine was up first and she scanned the upcoming cheese bags until she spotted one labelled gouda.

"There. You galls ready?"

"Ready," the both said in unison. Taking a running start, Jasmine ran towards the two and jumped into their hands. Amy and Sammy both then used their combined strength to hoist her into the air, where Jasmine was able to swipe the bag of gouda from the rope. It was then that she realized they had forgot to work out the landing portion of the plan. She yelped as she quickly began to plummet towards the water, but was caught in the nick of time by her boyfriend.

"Guess I'll go next," Dave said as a bag of mozzarella approached overhead. He repeated what Jasmine had done, running towards the twins and jumping as hard as he could manage. Once again the cheerleaders used their experience to shoot him up with pinpoint accuracy, and Dave grabbed the cheese with no issue. Though with the survivalist couple still preoccupied, he was caught on his way down by Sugar. "Thanks, I owe ya one."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said with a jolly sort of ominousness.

Beardo had the gondola linger for a bit longer, but they couldn't find a bag labeled for parmesan. Figuring this must have meant it was at a later checkpoint, he passed the reigns back to Shawn and they continued onward.

Thanks to the straightaway portion of the canal they were on, both of the enemy teams had seen a faint look at how Team Explosive retrieved their cheese, giving them time to formulate plans of their own. In Team Old School's case, this simply came from Cody whipping up a makeshift lasso out of their currently empty bag. Though Team Radioactive wasn't yet at a consensus.

"Have y'all ever seen The Lightning's vertical?" The jock jumped in place to prove his point. It was an impressive reach to be sure, but was clearly not high enough. "Sha-no problem, let Lightning take care of the rest."

Brick noticed some of the others giving their teammate annoyed looks, so he quickly stepped in. "Now Lightning, I think we can all agree that you're our best jumper, but it'll waste us a lot of time if we don't get it on the first try."

"Lightning never misses, what you talking bout?"

"I just think it would work out better for us if we approach this with a bit more teamwork," the cadet continued. "Just give it a try. You'd be surprised how much smoother things go when you let your fellow soldiers help you out."

While Lightning didn't seem convinced, he was beginning to notice how annoyed some of the others were getting with him. Perhaps having flashbacks to his fate in All Stars, he huffed and folded his arms. "Sha-fine. As long as Lightning gets to be the jumper, then whatever."

Now with the jock's cooperation, B was able to direct traffic through Dawn's translation. Brick, Scott, and Anne Maria were positioned in a line with the first two kneeling in a way that created a sort of makeshift stair path. Once they had spotted a packet of full fat mozzarella that their head chef felt would be sufficient, Lightning took a running start at B's mark. He hopped from Brick's shoulder, to Scott's and finally jumped off the top of Anne Maria's rock hard poof. Thanks to the increased momentum and height combined with Lightning's vertical, he grabbed the cheese with ease and was caught safely by his teammates on the way down.

"Well done," Dawn complimented, with the others voicing similar approving comments.

"See? Told you that working together would make it a whole lot easier," Brick added with a firm pat on the back. Lightning looked around at the praise, not really sure how to react.

***** Confessional: Lightning *****

"Huh, Lightning's so used to carrying his team back home, he never really thought about working with the others to get things done." He looked on, deep in thought and perhaps on the verge of clarity. But eventually he folded his arms and gave the camera an unimpressed huff. "He still thinks he could have sha-made that jump himself, though."

***** In the Grand Canal *****

Now it was Team Old School's turn to bring home the cheese. Cody was stood atop Trent and Beth's shoulders, with Leshawna and DJ positioned on both sides and arms at the ready in case he fell. Courtney kept a lookout for the upcoming dairy, finally spotting a bag she thought would work well.

"Ok, we have mozzarella coming up so be ready to-"

"Is it vegan mozzarella?" DJ suddenly asked. "I mean, it would kinda defeat the purpose of the pizza theme if we don't make sure we go with a vegan option."

"... No, it wasn't. Hold on." Annoyed but not wanting to question the head chef, Courtney kept steering around until she finally spotted a bag of vegan mozzarella slices. "Alright, there it is."

"Come to papa!" Cody flung the lasso and successfully got a hold of the target. His aim wasn't perfect, so it almost came falling into the water, but Leshawna was able to catch it while the tech geek jumped down safely into DJ's arms.

"Should we be worried that we're still bringing up the rear?" Leshawna asked while she added the cheese to the assortment of ingredients.

DJ shook his head. "Nah, next section is toppings and they'll probably be going for meats and stuff. Obviously we won't have to worry about missing out on those when we're doing a meat-free pizza."

Sure enough, the first thing on the other two team's mind was meat as they neared their next stop. For once they actually had to steer off of the Grand Canal and take one of the smaller branching paths to reach the former home of Marco Polo. His house itself was actually rather normal, almost resembling an old apartment building. It was also shut, and the various topping stands were instead spread throughout the streets leading towards the house.

All three gondolas had docked nearby before any team was done with their scavenging. They had to seek out toppings they actually needed, ignoring the stands for things like anchovies, pineapple, or bacon. In a twist, Team Old School actually returned to their gondola first. Per DJ, they had settled on onion, spinach, green bell pepper, and button mushrooms.

However, the only reason Team Radioactive wasn't the first team back was because it had purposely been made for pepperoni to be the hardest topping to seek out. They eventually found it tucked around a narrow alley corner.

"You're positive that we shouldn't get any other toppings?" Scott asked once more as they passed by the mushrooms. "You don't want to put anything else here on the pizza?"

"Nope," she answered simply, the first to arrive back to their gondola. "We'll get all the stuff that gives us an extra kick at the last stop."

As for Team Explosive, Beardo had passed a few sausage options before he found one that he felt would work best for the pizza. Also in the haul was red bell pepper, onion, and most interestingly shrimp.

"Can't say I've ever thought of putting seafood on a pizza before," Shawn commented as he rowed the boat back towards the Grand Canal once the whole team was back. "But if we're going for Cajun I guess it fits."

"Yeah, I'm kinda banking on the whole unique factor blowing him away." Beardo took count of their haul as one of the final stretches for the challenge began.

The path to the final supplies location was a longer one, giving the players some downtime to relax and formulate their plan for the baking phase of the contest. Among all three teams they began pairing off each other to cover various aspects of the cooking. A sauce team, a dough team, and an oven prep team for the members less confident in handling the food. Or because the team wasn't trusting in letting her near the food in Sugar's case.

With Chiesa di San Simeone Piccolo eventually approaching, Cody looked poised to make another comment. Trent gave him a stern look. "Dude, I know what you're thinking and don't even say it. Not everything is some kinda anime reference just because of the name."

It was then that the Chiesa came into view. It was a large church with a fancy column littered entrance. But its most pronounced detail was the huge dome-like green roof on the main building.

"Normally I'd see your point, but the thing is literally green," Cody pointed out. Trent shrugged.

"Fair enough, I'll give you that one."

Like with Marco Polo's house, the church itself was actually closed, so instead various booths for the different supplies were scattered around the front of the building. All three teams ended up taking crushed red pepper and parmesan for their pies. For Team Old School they also grabbed basil, thyme, some cloves of garlic, and oregano. Team Radioactive didn't go too hard, opting for some garlic powder alongside some basil and oregano as well. Last up was Team Explosive, who added a more unique Creole seasoning selection alongside their basil and cloves of garlic.

With everyone's assortment of ingredients finally complete, now all that was left was to cook. All three teams were more or less neck and neck as they approached the Constitution Bridge. Though the ovens weren't actually on the bridge itself, rather they were waiting at the bottom of the stairs on one end of the bridge. B, Shawn, and Courtney ensured they were parked safely as members of the team carefully relayed their supplies among each other from the gondola to their respective ovens.

The ovens were classic wood burning brick pizza ovens, each with a tiny team flag poking out from the top to signify who would use each. In front of each oven was a large workstation with plenty of bowls and pans for everyone to do their stuff. All three head chefs took up crust duty, with Beth, Brick, and Sammy helping them out respectively. Notably, Beardo had taken a hairband to tie back his massive afro. On the sauce squads we had Courtney and Leshawna, Dawn and B, and finally Jasmine and Shawn. The others prepped the oven and helped with carrying over ingredients as they were needed.

Anne Maria and Beardo were both working out a standard classic circular dough for the crust, but because DJ was opting for deep dish he actually had to fashion the dough into a bowl-like affair inside of a tall cake pan. As they were mixing together the fixings for the crust, Brick raised an eyebrow at Anne Maria's water specifically being labeled as New York imported.

"So you said the water makes all the difference, is that really true?"

"Bro, New York's water is like the champagne of the water world," she assured him. "Pizza joints all over the continent import water from the area just to make their pies taste better. Like I said, I know what I'm doing."

The cadet seemed like he now had more questions than answers, but kept quiet.

***** Confessional: Brick *****

"I'll be honest, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of importing water just for pizza. You don't even ever really think of the water when it comes to the crust steps." He tapped his chin in thought. "Maybe if there's any left over after we're done, I might try and sneak a sip to see what all the hype is about."

***** At Constitution Bridge *****

After some time had passed, progress was coming along smoothly for everyone. Anne Maria event attempted to do the classic twirling the dough into the air trick, which temporarily sent Brick into a panic before she caught it successfully. Occasionally the sauce squad would ask their respective head chef what order they wanted the ingredients added to the sauce. Between all the garlic mincing, onion cutting, and mixing going on, it was starting to smell like a genuine Italian joint around them.

"I'm liking what I'm smelling," Chris announced as he and Chef checked in on the contestants. Notably, Chef had a slick new pair of sunglasses while Chris had a fancy new scarf. "We got so sidetracked checking out Venice's shops we almost forgot that we had a challenge to come judge!"

"Do we get to go shopping once the pizzas are done?" Amy asked hopefully.

"Ha! Of course not. Except whoever gets shoved out the plane, they're free to go shop all they want afterwards."

Scott leaned against a wall with his arms folded. "So it really isn't a reward challenge? Geez, we're blazing through people."

"The benefits of having a large cast, dude." Chris took a sip of macchiato that he had the whole time. "Let's pick up the pace, people! Your beloved host is feeling peckish."

With the crust done for each team, the head chefs moved on to helping finalize the sauce. Team Radioactive's was definitely the most simple, but Anne Maria used a wooden spoon for a taste test to confirm that it was good to go. DJ and Beardo had their sauces finished soon after, with the later noting a good kick from his thanks to the creole seasoning. The sauces were poured onto the crusts, or more into the crust in DJ's case since he had to utilize more sauce than the others to fill out the cake pan.

Now it was time to apply the cheese and toppings. Anne Maria added a bit of extra mozzarella to the mix to up the cheesiness, while Beardo also utilized the gouda. For the toppings, DJ's carefully placed the spinach, cut up pepper, and mushrooms across the top before applying another coat of sauce above them. Beardo went all out spreading across the sausage, pepper, and shrimp. Looking at the more detailed toppings for the other teams had some of Team Radioactive nervous when Anne Maria simply applied pepperoni to their pizza, but they were long past the point of no return.

With their creations nearly complete, all that remained was the baking. The pizzas were slid into the ovens and... then they waited.

"So like, do we get to have what's left of the pizza since you're only eating like a slice each or..." DJ trailed off.

"No can do," Chris answered. "Turns out we forgot to load up the intern's food for the next leg of the flight, so these will have to hold them over until we get to our next location. Hopefully you made them actually edible for them so they don't starve. Looking at you Ms. Courtney McCruddy Sundae."

The CIT just glared back at the host in response.

***** Confessional: Courtney *****

"Ugh, that stupid sundae challenge... if I only ever have to hear about it one more time in my life, that'll still be one time too many."

***** At Constitution Bridge *****

Time took to finishing cooking the pizza varied depending on the team, but it was Beardo's that finished baking first, followed by DJ, then Anne Maria shortly after. Each head chef cut a slice from the pie and brought it over to Chris, who had been given his own little table and chair to eat at.

"Finally! We may as well do this in order of who finished their pizza first, so we'll start with Team Explosive."

Beardo looked on at his team nervously, turning back to the host with crossed fingers and providing the nervous sound of comically loud chattering teeth for added emphasis. Chris seemed to raise an eyebrow when he noticed shrimp on the slice, but shrugged it off. After one bite he recoiled, nearly giving the beatboxer a heart attack in the process. But then he smiled and continued scarfing down the slice. When he was done he took a drink of water before addressing the team.

"Ok, wow, wasn't expecting that pizza to have a kick to it. But as for my verdict... I'm impressed." He gave two thumbs up. "That was really something different, I really dug it dudes."

Many of his teammates gave Beardo approving cheers while he wiped the sweat from his brow. Next up was Team Old School's pizza.

"I went with a vegan deep dish pizza," he announced while placing the slice before him.

"If it's deep dish then that ain't a pizza," Anne Maria protested. "It's a dang casserole."

"Now now, we don't have time for one of these pizza debates on the show. I'm still counting it as valid." Using one hand to balance the deep dish slice from the bottom, Chris took a big bite of the vegan dish. Hearing it described as vegan made him a bit hesitant, but his worries were quickly washed away as he was treated to the flavors that only DJ could provide.

"Ah man, that's great!" He finished the rest of the slice, with DJ beaming proudly. "Who knew you could make pizza vegan and it doesn't suck? Nicely done, my dude."

Anne Maria frowned, not impressed since she considered making pizza both vegan AND deep dish nothing short of hearsay. She wasted no time putting her slice in front of the host, which was notably larger than the previous two slices.

"If ya think that's good, get a taste of genuine New York style." She grinned confidently. "With a slice so big you'll have to fold it!"

Chris was actually surprised to see what appeared to be a normal slice of pizza with just plain cheese and pepperoni after the previous submissions. He shrugged, folding the slice and taking a bite.

Many gasps rang out when the host's eyes went wide and he dropped the slice back to the plate. He stared off in pure shock, unresponsive.

"Does... does the pizza suck?" Brick asked cautiously.

"This... this..."

Concerned at Chris' well being, Chef rushed over and poured the glass of water on him in an attempt to bring him to his senses. Chris shook it off, looking down at the pizza in utter bewilderment.

"This pizza. It's so... nostalgic!" Anne Maria perked up, everyone else just looking more confused. "Why it reminds me so much of the pizza that my mom... used to order because she was too busy to bake one herself."

A zoom in on Chris' eye revealed a flashback that went unseen by everyone else. A young Chris McLean, who somehow still had the same hairdo back then, tugged on his mother's dress as his stomach growled.

"Moooom, I'm hungry. Where's the grub?"

"Not now, Christopher, mom is on an important business call," the woman said off screen, as all that was shown in the flashback was her legs stretching up out of screen. "I left you some pizza from Rafael's on the table."

The boy pouted at the lack of attention but was too hungry to continue pestering her. Young Chris walked over to the table in a huff and retrieved a slice of pizza. After one bite his worries were washed away and he continued to scarf down the pie. The camera then came back out of current day Chris' eye, ending the flashback.

"So... does that mean we win or what?" Anne Maria asked hesitantly.

Chris stood up, looking her dead in the eyes... and giving a thumbs up. "Heck yeah! For giving me a taste of my childhood, Team Radioactive finally wins a challenge and tickets to first class!"

It took a second for the others to react since the whole series of events was so odd to begin with. But once it finally registered, Anne Maria's teammates cheered and all ran up to congratulate her on the victory. Unfortunately for DJ and Beardo, though, this left them to look from each other to Chris nervously.

"So... who's kicking someone off?" Beardo eventually asked.

"Hm... that's tricky since you both actually made really good pizzas." Chris rubbed his chin, looking between the two choices. He took another bite from both pies to weigh his options. "They're both drastically different types of pizza too, so it's hard to compare them."

"You could always call us both winners and make it so no one goes home today," DJ offered optimistically.

"Ha! Good joke, bro." After cutting out another slice and trading notes with Chef, Chris eventually looked at the two hopeful teams after much deliberation. "Alright, so, after giving it some thought I think I'm gonna have to also give safety to...

Team Old School."

DJ sighed in relief, getting showered with praise from his team as they also felt the fear of elimination wash away. Team Explosive, on the other hand, went through various disappointed expressions with Beardo dropping his head in shame.

"What can I say, it really impresses me that they pulled off a vegan pizza I actually really liked." Chris shrugged innocently. "So that means Team Explosive is sending someone packing! See you kiddos later tonight."

Everyone began making their way back to the Jumbo Jet, Team Radioactive looking like they were on cloud 9 while Team Old School was just happy to be safe. Team Explosive were all crestfallen, though some looked more nervous than others. Amy was at the rear of the team, so Sugar sneaked back to join her.

"Psst. I've been doing some thinking," she whispered.

"That's concerning," Amy snarked. Sugar either ignored or didn't register the mild insult.

"It's pretty important, but it's something we're gonna need to do right now before we vote."

She jerked her head in Dave's direction, who seemed to be the most indifferent about his team's loss. Quickly picking up on what she was getting at, Amy smirked devilishly.

***** Confessional: Amy *****

"I'm kinda shocked, who knew Sugar was actually half descent at scheming." She smirked. "Gotta say, I'm a little impressed."

***** On the Jumbo Jet *****

Team Radioactive partied their way to first class, still soaking in their first win. Since they had nothing better to do for the time being, Team Old School just went to chill in the common area. Sammy and the power couple decided they may as well get a head start on voting and zeroed in on the confessional. Though not before Jasmine and Shawn exchanged a long kiss to lift their spirits from the loss. Dave was lagging in the middle of the group, thinking over how to vote while a still dejected Beardo also passed. Suddenly, the germaphobe looked around to see Amy on his left and Sugar on his right.

"Howdy!"

"Uh..." He backed away in concern. "Can I help you?"

"Look, we'll just get to the point," Amy explained. "We want to team up with you. Vote together and all that junk."

He eased up. "Ah, that makes sense. I guess you're feeling pretty nervous after the last ceremony we went to."

Her eye twitched, but she kept up a cheery facade. "Well of course I'm nervous, but even still I think it's just the smartest thing for all of us to stick together."

"Now I know what ya may be thinking," Sugar added. "I know you and Shawn were buds back in our last season. But when ya really think about it, Jasmine was the one to turn Sky against ya when she switched teams. And I should be able to get Beardo to vote with us so-"

"Sure, I'll do it."

There was a pause, Amy and Sugar both being caught off guard.

"Really?" The mean twin asked. "Just like that?"

Dave nodded. "Yeah, I'll vote with you guys." He noticed that Amy was about to break out in a wicked smile, so he held his finger up to stop her. "On one condition."

"Condition?" Sugar looked skeptical. "What kinda condition?"

"You let me pick who we vote for tonight."

Both of them exchanged a look with each other, then looked back at Dave in bewilderment.

"Um, no?" Amy folded her arms. "We want to get rid of Sparemy tonight."

"And I'm totally cool with helping you do that," Dave said. "Next time, at least. So long as you let me pick who goes home tonight."

Once again the two looked at each other, thinking over if they wanted to commit to such a deal or not. As frustrating as it would be not getting rid of her sister now when they had the chance, Amy also knew that Dave's vote could just as easily cause her downfall now that they had given out the offer. If they didn't agree to his terms, who's to say he wouldn't just help vote her off with her sister and friends?

Eventually she sighed in acceptance. "Fine, it's a deal. So who do you want to vote off?"

***** Confessional: Dave *****

"So it looks like for once I can actually make sure things go well for me instead of making myself look like a fool." His normally disinterested and neutral expression gave way to an ominous smirk. "Nice. This should be an interesting ceremony."

***** In the Elimination Area *****

Once again Team Explosive filed their way into the elimination room for the second time. Many on the team were looking confident, with Beardo the only one looking truly nervous after he had failed to lead them to victory. Chris was chuckling to himself as he looked over the passports.

"Wow. I did NOT see these results coming." He shook his head in disbelief, smiling. "But hey, the unpredictability is why I love hosting this show so much!"

"I thought you loved hosting because you enjoy torturing people like us?" Sammy asked.

"Fine, it's one of many reasons why I love hosting the show." Chef brought over the plate of peanut filled barf bags, and Chris readied the first to throw. "Let's get a move on then. Barf bags going out to... Jasmine!"

The Aussie caught her bag with a cool smirk.

"Sugar."

She once again opted to catch her bag in her mouth, chewing up the peanuts with glee.

"Dave... and Beardo."

While the former said nothing at catching his symbol of immunity, the later sighed in relief and upon catching his recited the sound from Metroid when Samus finds an item.

"Gonna do that every time you get one of these, eh?" Dave asked, slightly annoyed.

Beardo shrugged. "There's a lot of video games I can pull from for it."

"And our penultimate barf bag goes surprisingly to... Samey!"

The nice twin was so busy glaring at her sister that she didn't register her name being called in time. Her barf bag simply smacked the side of her face and fell to the floor. "Wait what?"

Shawn raised an eyebrow, looking over at Amy. "You voted for me and not your sister? I didn't think that whole petty shtick of yours would let you vote for anyone else."

The mean twin elected to just say nothing, glaring at him and his allies. Jasmine, Sammy, and Shawn all looked equally perplexed but figured it wouldn't matter in the end anyway.

"So, Shawn and Amy. One barf bag left." Chris held up the final symbol of immunity, bouncing it in his hand. "And that's a wrap for whoever doesn't get it. The final barf bag of the night is going to...

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... Amy!"

"WHAT?!"

Shawn, Jasmine, and Sammy had practically yelled in unison as they all jumped from their seat in shock. A very smug and satisfied Amy caught her barf bag with glee.

"I know! Crazy, right?" Chris chuckled, Chef going over to stuff a parachute into the loser's arms. "But yeah, Shawn's out."

"How the hell?" He stammered, barely registering it when Chef handed over his parachute. "Why?"

He looked over his team, his mind racing. Jasmine and Sammy both looked just as shocked as he was. No way either of them would backstab him. Obviously Amy voted for him, Sugar too since she probably still held a grudge against him and Sky beating her. But that was only two votes to his three and there was no tie. Beardo? Well it was a possibility, he and the beatboxer weren't exactly friends. He didn't think they were on bad terms either, though. But even with him, that still meant they needed a vote from...

"Dave?" Shawn finally asked, a bit of hurt to his tone. "You voted for me?"

"Yup," the germaphobe replied without missing a beat.

"... Why? I thought we were friends."

He opened his mouth to answer but ultimately decided against it. Without saying a word, Dave simply got up and left the elimination area. Sugar smirked at the job well done, and also took her leave while motioning Beardo to come along with her. Amy was the last to leave, giving her sister a pointed glare before she was gone. The remaining three could only stand there in stunned silence, processing what just happened.

"Yeeeeeah, I know this is a huge blindside and all, but Shawn ya still gotta go dude." Chris pointed a thumb at the now open hatch. "Hop to it."

Shawn was still staring off in disbelief, eventually shaking himself back to reality with Chris' urging. "Hold that thought." Suddenly, he pulled Jasmine down and gave her a long kiss. It was a solid ten seconds before they finally broke it and he noticed the host giving him a weird look. "Heard through the grapevine that you booted Harold off just before he could kiss Leshawna, figured I'd beat you to the punch before you had the chance."

"Huh, very smart." Chris nodded in impressed approval. "Go ahead and say your goodbyes."

Jasmine and Sammy lead Shawn towards the open hatch, all still looking flabbergasted.

"Shawn, I am so sorry," Sammy said. "I have no idea what just happened."

"It isn't your fault, don't beat yourself up over it." The zombie nut scratched his head in confusion. "I think we all just got blindsided by that."

"Rest assured, we'll figure out a way to get payback for this," Jasmine added, a bitter anger to her tone. "I promise."

He nodded. "I know you will. It'll be tough, but I know the both of you can get through th-"

His words of encouragement were promptly cut short by the Boot of Shame swinging down to send him plummeting. His call off _"Watch out for zombiiiiies,"_ could faintly be made out before the hatch was closed once more. Sammy patted her friend on the back for comfort, though she was having a hard time hiding her nervousness.

"How ARE we going to get out of this?" She whispered. "This means the whole team is against us."

"... We'll figure it out," Jasmine spat, nearly shaking with rage at seeing her boyfriend leave. "We have to. Can't let that arse of a sister you have get the last laugh."

The two of them shared a determined look before finally retreating back to Economy Class.

Back in the cockpit, Chris whistled. "A nice juicy drama filled elimination ceremony. Just what the doctor ordered! Gonna be hard for the next episode to top it."

"Well the next episode is an Aftermath, so there's that," Chef pointed out.

Chris blew a raspberry and waved his hand dismissively. "Those don't count. All I know is, things are about to heat up! Has Amy and Sugar established an alliance that can't be beat? Will Jasmine and Samey be able to fight their way out of the danger zone? Will their first taste of victory go to Team Radioactive's heads?"

He pulled out another slice of Anne Mara's pizza, saying the rest of his sign off in a muffled food filled voice. "You'll have to tune in next time to find out. Next time on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

**Voting Confessionals:**

Amy looked slightly annoyed as she stamped Shawn's passport. "This is dumb. Perfectly good chance to boot off Samey, and that nerd wants us to put it off? Whatever, he better cooperate next time or he'll be the one we vote off after her."

Beardo still seemed on edge after he stamped Shawn's passport. "Geez, I'm worried about tonight since my pizza didn't cut it. Sugar even thinks I might be in danger, but she said the smart move right now is to break up Shawn and Jasmine. That they're too much of a threat together. And honestly? I kinda have to agree. They're both beasts on their own, but together they're almost unbeatable. I guess voting for one is the best move we can make for now."

"Shawn has everything so good," Dave lamented while stamping the zombie nut's passport. "His perfect girlfriend, got to make it to the finale, has countless fans. Well now it's his turn to see what tasting failure is like. Doesn't taste so great, does it buddy?"

Jasmine smiled happily after giving Amy's passport a stamp. "So long and good riddance."

Much like the last time, Sammy gave her sister's passport multiple stamps for good measure. "Second time's the charm, I guess. Amy can go back to being mom and dad's problem to deal with."

"Damn, I knew this would be one of the few challenge types where we'd be in danger." Shawn shrugged and stamped Amy's passport. "Oh well, at least we're not losing much by cutting Amy loose. We'll bounce back again."

"I'll be honest, I'm kinda glad to be voting tree boy out before Samey anyway." Sugar happily stamped Shawn's passport. "This is what you get for being able to say you beat me in a talent contest! I shoulda won that, I'm the most talented person on this whole gosh dern plane!"

Votes for Shawn: 4 (Amy, Beardo, Dave, Sugar)

Votes for Amy: 3 (Jasmine, Sammy, Shawn)

**After the Boot of Shame:**

Shawn held on to his beanie to keep it from flying off his head. He sighed heavily, his elimination still not fully sunk in yet.

"Alright, I'll admit it, consider me officially blindsided." He deployed his parachute so he could focus more on his parting words. "I mean it would have been equally bogus for Sammy to have been eliminated anyway, but I have no idea why Amy suddenly stopped beefing with her to target me. Like what the heck did I ever do to her?"

He shook his head in disbelief. "But whatever, it's done. I'm worried for Jazz and Sammy, but they're tough. I know they can pull through this somehow. It'll be hard, but I think they can do it. With all the zombie survival wisdom I've passed on, they should be well equipped for anything."

Since his fall trajectory had him about to hit a building, he positioned himself in a way that allowed him to slide down the railing. Removing the parachute, he somersaulted through the air and stuck the landing on a passing gondola below. Both the couple that had been riding the gondola and the gondolier recoiled back at the sudden intruder in shock, though Shawn was none the wiser to them.

"Well as long as I'm here, maybe I should pick some sort of souvenir for Jasmine." He scratched at his stubble, weighing his options. "I wonder if they have any commemorative shot glasses somewhere around here."

**Remaining Contestants:**

Team Old School: Beth, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Leshawna, Trent

Team Radioactive: Anne Maria, B, Brick, Dawn, Lightning, Scott

Team Explosive: Amy, Beardo, Dave, Jasmine, Sammy, Sugar

**Elimination Order:**

19th: Shawn

20th: Dakota

21st: Rodney

22nd: Harold

23rd: Izzy

24th: Staci

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the first stretch of the story done! Next chapter will be an Aftermath, hosted by Topher and Ella, where we'll hopefully be able to give the likes of Staci, Izzy, etc more time to shine. Also the Aftermaths will contain a song in each to give some time to highlight one or two more characters, but those chapters don't factor in to the order for songs showing up in normal chapters. So since this chapter didn't have one, the chapter after the Aftermath will.
> 
> In relation to the elimination, it'll get developed on more as time passes but Dave was the deciding factor in Shawn's elimination and his reasoning was in a nutshell bitter jealousy for how good Shawn has it. Dave was humiliated and became hated for his run on TDPI, while Shawn made it to the end, got the girl, and went on to be a fan favorite. Dave is a petty ass bitch, what can I say. Hope people enjoyed the chapter and having a more chill/less dangerous challenge for once. See you all hopefully soon with the Aftermath!


	8. Aftermath: Blindside of the Dead

Unlike the typical intro narrated by Chris, things started out over a blue globe backdrop. The generic sounding Aftermath theme played while the camera circled around the globe. In bright white text the words TOTAL, DRAMA, and finally BATTLE OF THE GENERATION flashed on screen. Finally, the word AFTERMATH appeared underneath. The screen went white and turned into a clip of Staci from the second episode.

_"This is so unfair, I can't die yet." Staci sobbed as she hung to B's arm from desperate fear. "I was going to become a cook, just like my great great great great-"_

_As B's expression turned from one worried about the yetis to one annoyed at Staci, Lightning's hand covered the liar's mouth. "The Lightning is NOT in the mood to hear chatty girls blabbing right now."_

A flash transition switched to another clip from the same episode.

_Meanwhile, Izzy dangerously balanced her cattle prod on the tip of her finger, getting a worried look from DJ in the process._

_"Izzy, you gotta be careful with that thing," the brickhouse pleaded. "You're gonna get one of us hurt."_

_"No worries, big guy. Izzy always has everything under control." As if on cue, right after saying as much Izzy fumbled her cattle prod, accidentally turning it on in the process and almost allowing it to come shocking down on Cody's head. Thankfully for the geek, she regained hold of it at the last moment and smiled. "See? No problemo!"_

_Cody and Trent exchanged an uncertain look, trying to keep the near electrocution out of mind._

After the next transition it switched to a clip from the Ireland episode.

_Ezekiel cackled maniacally as he fired shoes at Team Old School as if it was a machine gun. While most shots missed, some pelted team members in various body parts._

_"Leprechauns are supposed to love having shoes clean and polished, shooting them around the forest is totally inaccurate to the lore," Harold complained before a well sized boot found itself planted square between the legs. He groaned in pain, grabbing his assaulted crotch as he fell to the ground._

Following the next transition was a clip from when Rodney quit the competition.

_"I consider myself a gentlemen, and it's my duty to do what's right."_

_"What's right is you sit back down and let this ceremony finish," Shawn shot back, panic growing in his tone as they realized what the farmer was doing._

_"I'll never be able to live myself if one of these two go when it should have been me," he kept on, the objections going in one ear and out the other. "I need to redeem myself in the eyes of my team."_

_"We're telling you right now the thing that will make us most happy is if you sit down and don't do this," Sammy said, practically screaming in an attempt to actually register with the rambling loverboy. "Are you even paying attention to us?"_

Going backwards, the next clip was actually from the Kyoto episode.

_"Sam would have known better, he's played this game hundreds of times," Dakota shot back, her voice growing louder and angrier._

_"Well sorry that I'm not your dang boyfriend." Scott turned his back to his teammate, not noticing as her shadow began to grow drastically. "Seriously, you can't expect everyone to have the same amount of dumb video game knowledge as him. Especially when we're doing it in real life! Like come on, cut me a bre-"_

_"SHUT. UP." Suddenly, a large orange hand squeezed around Scott and picked him up. He had no time to react as the breath was crushed out of him. Darting his eyes up, he confirmed that he was in the clutch of Dakotazoid now, who looked ahead at the finish like with venom in her eyes. "WE NOT LOSING!"_

Finally was another clip from earlier in the episode.

_"Just wanted to check in on ya, bromigo." The scruffier boy chuckled awkwardly. "We haven't really had a chance to talk yet this season, and I was just hoping you were doing ok."_

_Dave shrugged. "I guess. Why wouldn't I be?"_

_"Well... Pahkitew Island did end kind of awkwardly. And while Jasmine and I don't really use social media, Sammy mentioned fans have been pretty hard on you after everything with-" Shawn stopped himself, realizing the potential awkwardness of it all._

_"Everything with Sky?" Dave finished, sighing. "Yeah, it's been rough. But I'm trying to move away from it, it's in the past ya know? I'm fine, honest." His friend smiled hearing this, prompting a small smile from Dave as well._

***** Opening Credits *****

The same Aftermath tune playing over the blue globe backdrop repeated and once again displayed the title of the season, only this time accompanied by the raucous cheers of a live audience. Once the lead in was done, we were live at the Aftermath stage, looking just as it did all those seasons ago. Cheers and whoops echoed from the crowd as the camera panned across the stage. Most of it was covered in darkness, though the faint silhouettes of sofas could be made out on both ends. There even seemed to be a few people sitting in the right set of couches, though the darkness made them hard to make out.

At the center of a stage was a smaller sofa, with two figures sitting on it masked by the shadows. But it was then that a spotlight shined down, revealing the pair. On the left was a well groomed young man, flashing the camera a pearly white smile. He had left behind his usual attire to take on a more formal getup, wearing a sleek blue suit jacket over a white dress shirt. He had matching blue dress pants and had his hair looking as immaculate as possible. On the right was a girl who radiated a much kinder energy than he did. Usually known for her pink attire, she was now wearing a blue Cinderella-like dress to better match her comrade. Her hair had also notably grown longer, though she still wore a bow.

"Welcome to the new and improved Total Drama Aftermath," he said, having to yell so he was heard over the still cheering crowd. "We're your hosts Topher!"

"And Ella," she finished, earning even more cheers from the adoring fans in the audience. Things were getting so loud that Topher had to motion for them to lower the volume.

"Now I know what you may be thinking," the sharp dressed guy continued. "Since when are we the Aftermath hosts? Shouldn't we be competitors if anything? Why is there even an Aftermath to begin with, they haven't done this since World Tour!"

"In honor of this season being a successor to the ever popular Total Drama World Tour, the network thought it would be fun to bring the Aftermath show out of retirement," Ella answered, smiling. "And they asked us to host personally!"

Topher chuckled, leaning back in his seat cooly. "Yeah, Ella's apparently a hit with the fans but Chris did NOT want to bring her back for a whole new season. So they settled on asking her to do this with me. And why am I here, you may ask? Because what better way to help the Total Drama fandom learn to love their future new host than by cutting his teeth hosting here!"

Ella clapped excitedly. "Oh, they've already offered to let you take over as host in the future? That's great, Topher!"

His smile faltered, sinking back a bit. "Well, no. But I know they'll come to their senses once they see how much I spice things up here. Heck, I won't be surprised if they're already chomping at the bit for me to take over before the season is even over."

"So what you're saying is they told you no to the role you really wanted." She chuckled, patting her co-host on the head. "That's ok, I really wanted to compete this season so I could be singing with the others. It happens to the best of us."

As much as he wanted to make a snappy comeback in objection, Topher just cleared his throat and put back on an upbeat demeanor. "Moving on, we've got a packed show planned for all of you. Since the season started, a whopping six competitors have found themselves kicked off the Jumbo Jet."

"Thankfully none of them went AWOL like Duncan and Ezekiel last time, so we have interviews lined up with each of them." Ella clapped happily along with the crowd. "We'll get their thoughts about their respective eliminations and see how they've been since they left the game."

"Plus we have plenty of surprises up our sleeve to help spice things up a bit," Topher added. "As a matter of fact, we can start things off by introducing our special guests!"

The camera focused on the right set of couches that were still shrouded in darkness. Cheers intensified from the crowd despite them having no idea who may be hiding in the shadows.

"The Aftermath wouldn't be complete without a peanut gallery, after all." The wannabe princess smiled towards the couches. "And we have a special group for today's set of guests. Even if us having them on is against Chris' best wishes."

"Many of you TD fans back home have probably also checked out the network's newer hit, The Ridonculous Race," Topher explained. "And you probably also noticed how our suspiciously bitter host made it a point to shun any mention of the show around him."

Ella nodded. "Speculation ran rampant with fans theorizing that the reason some favorites didn't return was due to their participation on another show. It looked like Chris wanted them wiped from Total Drama history itself!"

"Which is precisely why we've invited them to hang out with us here today." Topher chuckled, motioning towards the couches theatrically. "Because even if Chris doesn't want to invite them back, that won't stop US from talking with them. Please help us in welcoming..."

"Leonard!"

The two co-hosts introduced each name together, with a spotlight turning on to reveal each person as they were called. Leonard looked the same as ever, with his fake beard maybe looking a bit more disheveled if anything. He spread his arms and made hand signs as if he was casting some sort of spell on the people around him. Naturally, nothing was happening.

"Noah!"

Cheers intensified the most they had yet as the bored bookworm waved half haphazardly at the audience. His appearance had also gone unchanged, and he merely hunched over in his seat with a bored expression that told the story of someone just here for the paycheck.

"Owen!"

Unlike his best bud, Owen lived for the applause and stood up to wave back enthusiastically. He had actually appeared to have lost some weight since many had last seen him on The Ridonculous Race. He was still very large, but the improvement was noticeable enough to get some impressed stares from spectators.

"And finally, one of Total Drama's longest lasting power couples," Ella finished, giving a dramatic pause for effect. "... Geoff and Bridgette!"

The party animal whooped enthusiastically, fist pumping with one arm and using the other to swing around his hat. And next to him was... not Bridgette. Not even close. Instead if was another male, with darker skin than Geoff but still a familiar face to many watching. Especially when he joined his friend in the hollering, which then gave way to bodacious laughing and fist bumping.

"That's... not Bridgette," Ella said.

"Ya don't say." Topher glared at the surfer bros, who had finally started to calm down from the cheering. "Geoff, where's your girlfriend? She was scheduled to be on the show with you, not Brody."

Geoff chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, funny story about that, dudes. Bridge was totes cool with coming on to do the Aftermath gig, we were stoked to be trying out doing the whole guest experience instead of having to host. But then there was this rally for some endangered animals down in New Brunswick and she really wanted to hit that up."

"So she got with the producers to see if she could just take a rain check and come to the next Aftermath instead," Brody continued. "And since my bro still needed to bring someone with him we were all like, bro what if I came on with you?"

"I ran it by the dudes at the network and they thought the idea was totally chill!" Geoff laughed, exchanging another fist bump with his bro that they ended with a "Boom."

Both co-hosts looked on at the pair, confused as to how they should react. Topher eventually sighed and rubbed his temples. "Sure would have been nice if they told us about the last minute change before the show started."

"Well at least it's still someone most of the viewers would know?" Ella said optimistically. "There's no use dwelling on it, the show's underway already."

Topher sighed and nodded. "You got me there. Well, moving right along, welcome back everyone! How did it feel getting left out of another season's chance to win a million big ones?"

"Meh, me and Owen weren't lacking in offers to go on other shows so it's their loss as far as I'm concerned," Noah answered with a shrug. "I remember them reaching out to us right as we had got eliminated from Ridonculous Race, but apparently Chris went back on the offer when he saw how successful that show got."

"I think I heard he replaced us with Cody and Trent," Owen added. "Which is a huge bummer if you ask me. Not the Trent and Cody coming back part, I'm happy for them, but I really would have loved getting to go around the world again with my old buds!"

Leonard nodded along from nearby. "Perhaps it was for the best. Fame can be just as much a blessing as it is a curse. Between Pahkitew Island and Ridonculous Race, I've become something of a celebrity back home. I hardly have enough time anymore to formulate new spells."

The audience laughed, unsure if the LARPer was being serious or making a joke.

"S'all good, bros. I've just been taking it easy with Bridge and my bros ever since the race, so coming back for all the drama would have harshed my vibe." Geoff fist bumped his bro, chuckling. "But I'm all for throwing them a wicked post season party!"

"Ah bro, that would be legit," Brody piped in. "Haven't seen DJ at one of your parties since that gnarly rager you threw after season 3 wrapped up. Dude's a legend, he could pretty much down a whole keg on his own!"

There were some cheers and oohing from the crowd, with both hosts smirking in amusement.

"Something tells me DJ's momma will want to have a word with him after hearing that," Ella said, the audience laughing in agreement.

"And what have you guys been up to since the race wrapped up?" Topher asked. "Noah, one of our sources passed on a very interesting rumor about you."

Noah simply folded his arms and turned his head. "I have no idea what you're referring to."

"I think he's talking about how you proposed to Emma last month." Owen got a sharp glare from his buddy, making him recoil bashfully. "Oooh, that was supposed to still be a secret, wasn't it?"

While he was trying to maintain being annoyed at his chubbier friend, the barrage of cheers and applause from the spectators made Noah sink into his seat with his face turning bright red. Ella was perhaps clapping the hardest of all. "Congratulations, Noah! It's so wonderful to hear about young love continuing to blossom!"

"Yeah, thanks, whatever," the bookworm mumbled, trying to remove himself from the spotlight as soon as possible.

"Ah, dudes, speaking of which do you think you could hook a bro up with Kitty's digits if she's still single?" Brody asked. "She always seemed like a cool senorita that knew how to party."

"What about MacArthur?" Owen asked curiously. "Weren't you still crushing on her?"

Geoff put a hand on his bro's shoulder while he lowered his head, dejected. "Nah bro, they went on a date but she never called back for round 2. Few weeks later we found out from Sierra's blog that she's dating Sanders now."

"Who knew it'd be so hard competing with someone who's known and been with her for years?" The darker skinned surfer shook his head, earning a mix of laughs and awws from the crowd. "Guess that's how it be sometimes."

"The fact that they're sharing a million bucks together probably doesn't hurt," Topher added, head rested on his hand casually. "And how about you, Leonard? Anything big going on with you?"

"As I said earlier, things have been a lot busier back home for Tammy and I," he explained. "Our humble guild that is the Dragon Defeaters club back home ended up tripling in members following the race! Between that and the campaigns I assist with even beyond our local one, I've been up to ears in magical work!"

Topher blinked, not looking very hooked by the conversation. "Riveting. Well, speaking of awkward weirdos, how about we finally move on to our first guest in the hot seat for the evening?"

Cheers from the crowd confirmed this being a good idea, and Ella motioned to the TV screen above that now displayed a picture of the compulsive liar. "Staci's journey on Total Drama was once again cut short, with her exiting the competition first for the second time in a row."

"Despite almost hanging on thanks to sharing a team with Shady Scott, her constant chattering and general uselessness in the challenge sealed her fate." The mini Chris rubbed his hands together mischievously, chuckling. "But maybe she'll finally get her wish, because we plan to really make her talk. Heeeere's Staci!"

Both hosts motioned to the side of the stage where the pink clad girl made her entrance. She waved enthusiastically to the crowd, who were giving polite cheers despite them being notably quieter than what the peanut gallery received. While Topher only waved and motioned for her to take a seat in the currently empty left set of couches, Ella ran up to offer a hug that the chatter mouth gladly accepted.

"Staci! Thanks for joining us here and not trying to stow away on the plane," Topher quipped, getting a laugh from the crowd.

"Yah, well they didn't really give me the option since they electrified the wing." Staci finally took her seat. "But that's my bad for not being more alert, since it was my great uncle Conner that invented the taser. He was really good with electricity."

A large portion of the crowd laughed at the obvious lie, though Topher looked less amused. "Riiiight. Well, tell us how it felt once you were kicked off the plane. I bet it was absolutely soul crushing to get eliminated first AGAIN."

"It was really tough at first." Staci nodded sadly. "I thought I had been doing so good! But I knew I couldn't keep sulking. I just needed to hold my head up and keep charging forward. Much like my great cousin twice removed Amanda that invented the first steam propelled train."

There was once again laughter, though noticeably less so this time. Over at the peanut gallery, a puzzled Leonard looked down in thought. "Wasn't the person to invent that-"

"A British dude name Richard, yup," Noah answered in an unamused whisper.

"Well even if you journey was cut short, you can still be proud that you were able to do it in the first place," Ella said optimistically. "It had to be stressful when you were face to face with that pack of angry yetis!"

"Oh for sure! Ya know, with the way their white fur looked, they kinda reminded me of a mop. Which was invented by my great great great grandfather Bryce in the 1700s!"

Now there was just an awkward silence, some in the crowd coughing as the gag had fully run its course. Owen looked down at his buddy, as if silently asking how far off she was out of curiosity.

"It was in the late 1800s and was invented by a black guy," he whispered back. Owen shook his head in pity.

Topher took notice of the growing awkwardness and boredom caused by Staci's clearly false stories. Rubbing his hands together, he prepared to strike.

"Well then, Staci, since you didn't get much of a chance to compete this season, I think it'd be a fun idea to let you play a game right here for the show!" He chuckled, getting a weird look from his co-host who didn't seem to know what he was getting at. "Sound good?"

The compulsive liar perked up. "Yah! That sounds like fun!"

"Good. Then it's time to bring back an old Aftermath favorite." Topher motioned up to the monitor. "Let's play Truth or Electrocution!"

On the screen an image of an electric chair zapped away while the text of the game surrounded it. A watermelon was attached to the headpiece of the chair, and the volts sent to it were enough to cause it to pop. When the camera came back, a now very distressed Staci was already being strapped into the electric chair while the crowd cheered it on.

"Ah dude, not this thing again." Geoff recoiled in shame, hiding his face with his hat as memories from his time hosting the TDA Aftermath came flooding back.

"Topher, you can't do this to her," a very shocked Ella protested. "I was never told we'd be doing something like this on the show!"

"Because they knew you'd pull out of hosting if they told ya." The meaner host smirked, stepping over to Staci with a raised eyebrow. "Now the rules are simple. I'll ask you some questions and all you have to do is answer them. Answer truthfully, and everything's peachy! But if you lie, well, ZZZZT! Oh and don't worry, it's non lethal voltage and whatever."

Ella looked mortified, leaning towards their guest in concern. "Just tell the truth, Staci. It'll get us through the game faster."

Staci gulped, starting to break out in a sweat.

Smirking devilishly, Topher whipped out a stack of note cards. "Question one, and this one is common knowledge. Who invented the first practical use telephone?"

"Oh that's easy, it was my great great uncle Parker." You could immediately see the look of regret on her fact as the electricity was sent coursing through Staci's body. She twitched in her seat until the voltage finally ceased and she could sigh in relief.

"Wrong answer, it was Alexander Graham Bell." He switched to the next car. "How about this one, who invented television?"

Staci grimaced, almost as if she didn't want to lie but couldn't stop herself. "My great cousin William."

Once again she was hit with a nasty volt of electricity. Now her clothes were becoming a bit burnt from the chair's effects. Topher tsked and shook his finger. "Nope, Philio Farnsworth. We're 0 for 2 now. Here's one you can't get wrong, who's the host of this network's highest rated reality show?"

She whimpered, trying to move to cover her mouth but the straps prevented her. "M-my aunt once removed Melissa?"

And once again Staci was hit with another wave of electricity. By now much of the crowd and peanut gallery were looking on in worry as smoke wafted from he lying girl.

"Topher that's enough, she's going to get seriously hurt," Ella yelled. But her co-host was merely laughing in disbelief.

"The answer was literally just Chris! Why would you even lie about that one, everyone watching knows that answer without even having to fact check it on the web." He walked over to the smouldering liar, shaking his head. "It's like you're straight up unable to tell the truth. What is it that causes you to lie so much?"

Before she could answer, the nicer host began tugging him away, looking shook up. "I said that's enough, she doesn't have to answer any more questions. We've put her through enough alread-"

"Because I want people to think I'm interesting," Staci yelled from her seat, startling both hosts. "When I was a kid everyone ignored me and said I was boring. I started saying a few stories about my family here and there to get people interested and then I just kept going and going. It just got out of control and I don't know how to stop!"

There was silence, as everyone looked on in shock. Staci looked nearly on the verge of tears, while the audience murmured among themselves as they took in the new developments. Once she had re-composed herself, Ella ushered for two interns to come help.

"There, you got your answer, now can we please get her out of that chair?" While the two interns worked to remove Staci's straps, Ella gave her co-host a stern look. "Honestly, Topher, you should feel ashamed for subjecting her to that."

"Yeah, well, that's showbiz honey." He shrugged dismissively. "It's not always glitz and glam. The network wants drama, so I'll give them drama."

"At the cost of crossing the line?"

It was then that Topher noticed just how awkwardly the mood had shifted. The crowd was ominously silent, and even the members of the peanut gallery were looking at him with disgust. Really starting to feel the uneasiness of it all, he chuckled awkwardly and motioned Staci to take a seat at the back of the guest couches.

"Well how about we bring the mood back up by moving on to our next guest?" His co-host didn't look too enthusiastic. "And no more Truth or Electric Chair, I promise."

Ella was skeptical, but sighed at Topher's persistent look. "Very well. Up next we have a long time series favorite, beloved for being as unpredictable as she is destructive."

"Ever the human rollercoaster, Izzy went from single handedly winning her team part of a challenge in Antarctica to being the thing that kept them behind just enough to lose in Ireland," Topher added, the monitor above cycling through images of the red head's antics. "And when Courtney wasn't able to successfully stage a counter alliance, Izzy fell victim to the unity that was The Drama Brothers."

"But at least she was able to ensure Ezekiel didn't sneak his way back into the plane on her way out." Ella motioned to the side of the stage where Staci had come from previously. "And now she gets to spend time here with us. Here's Izzy!"

The crowd cheered and applauded, but no one ever came on stage. Both hosts shared a look, wondering what the hold up was.

"Uh... Izzy, everyone," Topher said louder. Once again the crowd cheered, but still nothing. Meanwhile at the peanut gallery, they were distracted long enough for a certain orange haired blur to begin rising behind two of the spectators. Perhaps sensing her presence, Noah sighed and braced himself.

"She's behind us, isn't she?"

"Noah! Big O!" Izzy whooped happily as she wrapped an arm around each boy, nearly squeezing the life out of them. "They didn't tell me you two would be here!"

"It's... good to see you too... Izz," Owen managed to get out between pained squeezes.

"Izzy, glad you could join us," Topher said, chuckling. "Mind joining us over here for the interview?"

The wild child glanced over at the other set of couches. Not knowing what to do, Staci offered an awkward wave, but was still recovering from her previous incident. "Nah, I haven't seen my boys in ages! I'll do my interview right here, thank you very much."

With that, Izzy finally broken her hug so that she could climb over Owen and rest in his arms. She then rested her head on Noah's shoulder like a pillow, giving him a sly grin. "Oh! And I heard backstage about you and Emma getting hitched. Nice. I'll be expecting my wedding invitation in the mail by this time next week."

The bookworm exchanged a horrified look with his buddy. He did NOT need Izzy crashing his wedding with her foolery, but once she got her mind on something it was next to impossible to prevent her from doing it.

"Ok, guess we'll just move right along then." Topher settled into his seat, glancing at their odd guest. "So Izzy, do you have any hard feelings towards your team for voting you off so early? You DID help them out big time in Antarctica after all."

Izzy waved her hand dismissively. "Ain't nothing but a thang. I did get pretty into my wrestle sesh with Zeke, sure I COULD have wrapped it up sooner, but I didn't think the other teams would be as fast as they were. Izzy's willing to admit her mistakes."

"Speaking of Ezekiel, what happened to him after you pulled him off of the plane with you?" Ella asked curiously. "The last we got to see was you chasing him somewhere in Ireland."

"Oh yeah, I thought he was just playing hard to get so I was gonna track him down to take him out on a night on the town! Never dated a feral guy before, I thought it'd be fun." She noticed Owen giving her a weird look, making her perk up. "But don't worry, once the producers finally tracked us down and carted him off for therapy, I realized it was but a fleeting moment of passion! Nothing serious, like me and Big O used to have."

The crowd were loving the look Izzy was giving her former flame, some whistling and others cheering. Topher decided to capitalize. "Sounds like there might be some lingering feelings between you two. Might we be on the verge of another couple reunion live here on the show?"

Owen blushed, chuckling awkwardly at the crowd's continued approval. "I did always hate how me and Izzy ended things back in World Tour. If she really wants to give things another shot then I am so there!"

"Aw, come here ya big lug." Izzy wrapped her arms around Owen, pulling him in for a quick kiss. But then the quick kiss turned into a full fledged makeout session. Not that the crowd minded, it just got them cheering and whooping even louder. The only one who seemed to not be enjoying the PDA was Noah, likely since the pair being distracted by their lip locking made them oblivious to when they leaned back and flattened their nerdy friend beneath them. His pleas for help fell on deaf ears.

"Dudes, that is so beautiful," Brody commented, wiping away a tear and clapping.

"Love is, like, radical bros." Geoff stood up to applaud, and even Leonard joined in.

Over on the host couch, Ella was enamored with the display of affection, though now Topher was starting to get fed up since the making out showed no sign of slowing down.

"Well, I guess we'll have to cut that interview there," he noted, trying to return decorum to the studio. "While we try to peel those two off of each other, let's move on to another guest from Team Old School!"

Because Ella was still swept up in the romance, her co-host had to tap her on the shoulder to get her attention. "Oh! Right, let's move on to Harold!"

Mention of the geek was able to get most of the crowd's attention back to the show. Images on the monitor showed off moments of Harold's throughout all of his seasons since there wasn't too much to show for this one.

"Harold had big plans for this season when he started it," Topher explained. "He came in with a pretty sweet advantage having his band bros Trent and Cody at his side, and from there he planned to even recruit a new member in the form of Beardo!"

"But biggest of all, other than winning the money, his main goal was to rekindle his romance with Leshawna." Ella squeed happily. "And he did it!"

"Yeah, after he got taken out of the game thanks to one of our other guests flattening him like a pancake." The meaner host laughed. "But hey, at least he didn't leave the season with nothing BUT regrets. And all it cost him were some broken bones!"

"Let's give a warm welcome to our next guest... Harold!"

Once more the crowd and peanut gallery rose to cheer on the next guest. Perhaps ironically in this case, as Harold rolled himself out in his wheelchair. He smiled towards the audience, but could only offer a short wave since steering required both hands. He came to a stop next to the couches, electing to stay in his own seat instead of pulling himself on to the sofas.

"Welcome to the show, Harold," Ella said with a sympathetic tone. "Sorry that it had to be under such harsh circumstances."

"No worries, it comes with the territory of the show." He chuckled awkwardly. "And hey, I technically did better than I did in World Tour. I outlasted two people instead of just one."

"Unless me or Staci return," Izzy suddenly yelled in his ear, somehow having made it to the guest couches away from Owen without anyone noticing. "And if both of us return, you'll have done worse than World Tour!"

Staci perked up a bit at the idea of returning. "Yah, that's a good point."

Harold looked at the other two, not really sure how to respond. "Er, noted. But anyway, yeah, I'm happy I get to be here and not in a hospital or anything. I even get to see one of my best buds from the show thanks to this peanut gallery you picked out!"

Owen and Geoff shared a look, not too sure which Harold was talking about since neither were that particularly close with the geek.

"It's marvelous to see you as well, Hargar the Wicked," Leonard suddenly chipped in, bowing in respect. "You'll be delighted to know that the campaign has been going well during your's and Sir Codicus' absence."

"That's great!" Harold grinned. "I know when they have a Crypt Captain as proficient as you, keeping their wits about them without us is no small feat."

Both hosts looked confused, Topher especially. "Uh, someone wanna translate this nerd speak for me?"

"Leonard leads an online Crypts and Cyclopes campaign for reality show alumni such as ourselves," Harold explained. "Cody and I are part of it, but obviously we haven't been able to partake while we're busy with the show."

"Worry not, it's not the first time prior commitments have kept them from the adventure," Leonard added. "What with them being such proficient real life bards, and all."

Topher blinked, still not fully understanding what was being described. "So this is basically just one of those secret geek club things?"

"Oh, it's no secret, we actually live stream our sessions. Fans love it!" The mad skills geek snort laughed. "Obviously Leonard and Tammy are there. And we've got Sam and Cameron on the show, Ellody and Mary from Ridonculous Race..."

"Hey, isn't Noah part of that too?" Owen asked, just as the bookworm in question was beginning to pick himself up. "He seems to really have a lot of fun hanging out with you guys!"

"Alright, seriously, am I gonna have to put duckt tape over your mouth or what?" Noah grumbled, earning a sheepish grin from his chubby buddy in response.

"It sounds like a lot of fun," Ella gushed, leaning towards the wizard in awe. "Might I join the campaign sometime?"

"But of course! Especially with Sir Codicus still out of the fray, we're more than happy to welcome newcomers."

Topher was getting fed up with the nerdy talk, loudly clearing his throat to get attention back on him. "Anywho, going back to Harold and his time on the show. You were able to sucessfully rekindle things with Leshawna before leaving the show. Any worries that things might not work out now that you're spending so much time apart?"

Harold's smile fell. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it, you poured your heart out to her right before your elimination in season 1, hooked up, but then once you were reunited she broke it off." Topher counted off points on his fingers. "Then in season 2 she went and talked trash about you behind your back and you voted her off. THEN in season 3 once you were gone she was all over Alejandro like a moth to a flame. Ya gotta be scared that this time will be another repeat of failure, I'm sure."

"Everyone was falling for Al's manipulation, heck even I did when he mind gamed me into quitting, GOSH." He waved off the comments with a confident nod. "This time we're going to make it work out long term. It'll be different."

"And you're not worried about her falling for another hunky guy?" Topher teased. "DJ, maybe Trent. Heck, it could even be someone from another team like Scott."

"Pretty sure that guy has his sights pretty squarely on Courtney," Harold pointed out. "And Trent and DJ are my friends. Don't be an idiot."

"Ignore him, he's just trying to stir up drama that isn't there." Ella gave her companion a stern look, though he merely shrugged innocently. "Now I know this may be a sore subject, but since Dakota will be coming out soon we have to ask how things are with you and your injury."

The geek nodded in understanding. "I figured it'd need to come up. It's not as bad as it looks. My neck and coccyx are healing up real nicely. It's basically just my legs that are really still janked up. Hence why I'm still stuck in this wheelchair for now. I'm hoping to be out of it and on crutches instead by the next Aftermath. So yeah, I'm starting to heal pretty nicely, though I don't like looking back at the footage since it was seriously painful when it happened."

Topher chuckled. "That's a shame, because you're main eventing today's version of another old Aftermath favorite... That's Gonna Leave a Mark!"

While the crowd was cheering, Geoff booed loudly from nearby. "Get new material, dude. You're just copying my whole TDA flow!"

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," the pretty boy said with a wink, motioning to the monitor. "Now let's see some carnage."

* * *

An upbeat whistling tune played over the series of clips, while a plain white transition came between each.

_First was a clip from Antarctica, mere moments after Courtney had struck Scott with a cattle prod. In new footage captured from an alternate angle, we saw Brick fly through the air as the snowmobile was sent rolling. An unfortunately placed chunk of ice was jutting from out of the ground, and the cadet's kiwis zeroed in on it with scary accuracy. He cried out in pain as he gripped his sore crotch, and from nearby a bruised up Scott weakly laughed. But it was then that their team flag came flying down like a javelin and hit the dirt farmer square in the nether region. Both boys keeled over in agony._

_In a second clip, Chef was passing out plates for dinner one evening on the plane. When he went to put the last plate down, he noticed a sudden bit of resistance. He looked down to see that Izzy had been hiding in the bottom of the rollcart and grabbed the plate for his attention. Before the large man could react, she jumped from out of her hiding place and karate kicked him in the jaw. She ran off, cackling._

_Next, Team Explosive was in the middle of the Madagascan rainforest during their challenge. Beardo suddenly realized that he badly had to use the bathroom and excused himself to duck behind a bush. This was a mistake, as once he was behind the shrubbery he was face to face with a sleeping family of bats. Being disturbed from their sleep caused them to fly into his face, sending him falling backwards and violently into the shrub that happened to be littered with thorns._

_Chef once again started the next clip, doing a round in the cargo hold to take inventory and make sure things were where they needed to be. He noticed one of the boxes rumble. Expecting an ambush, he brandished a ladle threateningly and carefully opened the top of the crate before taking a fighting stance. There was a pause, as nothing came out. Confused, he peered into the crate to see what had been causing the rumble. He didn't get an answer, as Izzy suddenly burst out of the crate BEHIND him. She suplexed the larger man, doing the nae nae on top of his stunned body before running off. A stray racoon then jumped out of the shaking crate and clawed up the prone man's face._

_Last, as promised, was a replay of Harold being flattened by Dakotazoid. The geek looked up in horror, unable to react in time as her mighty stomp crushed him and demolished his kart in the process. Later on, Chef and an intern carried Harold over to an ambulance on a gurney. He was loaded up into the vehicle and whisked away to check for serious injuries. It was then that the intern unmasked herself, revealing that it was Izzy all along. She promptly kicked Chef in the kiwis and ran off with another laugh._

* * *

"Izzy, how the heck did you make it to Kyoto when you had already been eliminated in Ireland earlier?" Topher asked, dumbfounded.

"Ah, you know, I had some time to kill before coming to do this show and I thought it'd be funny."

"... that doesn't answe-"

"You're not gonna get an answer, dude, that's just how she is," Noah interrupted, not at all shaken up by the crazy girl's feat. "You get used to it."

Owen and Geoff nodded in agreement, though Leonard looked on in awe. "You'll have to teach me how you became so proficient in teleportation spells!"

Ella giggled at Topher's continued confusion. "Well thank you for your time, Harold. We'll revisit everything with the injury when Dakota comes out. For now we have another guest to get to before that."

Harold nodded, staying parked beside the couches for now.

"Guess that means it's time to talk about lover boy Rodney." Topher motioned to the monitor, now displaying a smiling picture of the farmer. "While he lacked the strategic element to ever be a true contender in the game, Rodney's immense strength made him an asset to the team that you'd think would help him stick around."

"And then Amy had him wrapped around his finger, taking advantage of his easily infatuated heart." Ella put her hands on her hips, huffing. "How rude of her, toying with a innocent person's heart like that. Is there anything more cruel?"

"It turned out to be a fantastic move on Amy's part, though." Topher chuckled. "Because she was poised to get voted off from her team when they suffered their first loss! But being stricken with grief over losing the tiebreaker, Rodney offered himself up to be eliminated in her place."

"Some call it the most foolish move of the season, but love makes people do foolish things." Ella nodded sympathetically before motioning to the side of the stage. "And here he is now! Please help us welcome, Rodney!"

The crowd applauded politely, with one girl in the crowd even whistling up at the hulking boy. He waved back happily, making a noticeable dent in the sofa when he finally took his seat. Lad was an absolute unit.

"Thanks for joining us here today, Rodney," Ella chirped. "We're happy to have you on!"

"Hehe, thanks." He blushed at having a cute girl acknowledge him, trying to keep his attention on Topher to stay focused. "It's good to be here."

"I wouldn't describe losing my shot at a million bucks as good, but you do you my guy." The meaner host chuckled. "But since we have you here, many fans are still dying to know what your mindset was behind quitting. You were already safe and your team held no grudge against you. Why throw away your shot at the money? With your strength, you could have been a serious threat!"

Rodney puffed out his chest confidently. "Life isn't always about money, I wanted to uphold my principles. I was the one who caused my team to lose in the tiebreaker, so it wouldn't have been fair for my dearest Amy to get eliminated instead of me."

Some fans in the crowd laughed, which confused the hulking Casanova.

"Riiiight, well speaking of Amy let's talk about her." Topher pointed to the monitor that now showed off a picture of the mean twin. The crowd errupted into a chorus of boos and jeers despite her not even being there in person. "I mean, you threw away your entire game for her! You must feel pretty serious about your relationship."

The farm boy sighed dreamily. "Oh yeah, it's true love! Heck, before I left Nashville I even looked around to pick her out an engagement ring!"

Many in the studio gasped, some looking distressed at him potentially having wasted a large sum of money. Thankfully, their worries were eased when he pulled out a mere onion ring from his pocket.

"Uh... not trying to sound mean here, but you know what's just an onion ring, right?" Staci pointed out from behind him.

"Couldn't even swing for the lollipop on a ring, eh?" Noah snarked from nearby. "Don't think she'll be impressed, buddy."

"Well I didn't bring much money with me on the show, all the real rings were out of my price range." Sighing, he tucked the onion rings back into his pocket. "But monetary value isn't what's most important in life. It's the thought that counts, as long as it comes from the heart an onion ring is just as good!"

Brody sniffed, wiping away a tear before clapping. "Bro, that is so deep."

"I think it's a lovely gesture, Rodney," Ella offered. "But I do fear the enthusiasm may be a bit misplaced."

"Yeah, do you still think Amy was into you like how into her you were?" Topher tsked, shaking his head. "Well I've got a confessional of her's to show you. Check it out!"

Static filled the monitor, before switching to video feed of Amy in the confessional. Specifically, it was a clip from the Madagascar episode following Rodney's elimination.

_"Uuuugh, this sucks so much. Here I was, looking forward to dragging that big dumb hick to the finale with me so he'd hand me the million dollars. Now I have to bring Sugar with me. Can you say ew much? I'd say I was happy that him quitting kept me safe, but if he had just voted for Samey like I told him to then I could have just beat her in the tie breaker! So yeah, farm boy is dreaming if he thinks I'll ever call him back."_

Boos from the crowd intensified, Rodney staring off into space after what he had witnessed. Harold gave him a sympathetic glance and Staci even patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.

"Wow," the farmer mumbled. "I can't believe it... she really wanted to take me to the finale?"

Immediately the gestures of sympathy stopped so everyone could collectively facepalm.

"That's amazing! She must have really cared about me if she wanted me to go with her all the way to the end."

"Dude, she wanted to take you to the finale because you probably would have lied down and handed her the money," Topher corrected. "She did NOT care about you at all. We even have bonus clips to prove it."

Once again the monitor displayed Jumbo Jet footage, all consisting of new clips not seen in previous episodes. In the first, during one of Team Explosive's many stays in first class, Rodney was filling up Amy's cup with freshly squeezed lemonade.

_"Ya know, after this I could give you a foot massage," he offered. "My pa used to make me give him one all the time so I'm pretty good at it."_

_"Ew, no. What are you, one of those foot fetish freaks?" Amy walked away in disgust. "Never offer me that again, not interested."_

_Rodney hung his head dejectedly, not noticing when Sugar scooched up next to him._

_"Is that offer going fer anyone? All this running around the world's got my bunions hurtin more than a deer in the middle of the county gun show." To prove her point, she removed a shoe and stuck her nasty ass foot in Rodney's face, nearly making him hurl in the process._

The next clip took place in economy class, sometime prior to the elimination ceremony from the Nashville challenge. Rodney was staring at his crush with a dopey lovestruck expression. Clearly annoyed, Amy elbowed him in the side to snap him out of it.

_"Hey, how about you be useful and go get me a glass of water or something?"_

_Not about to deny her, he eagerly nodded and ran off to fulfill his task. Now with a moment of peace and quiet, the mean twin looked over at the other side of the room where Lightning was doing situps. She leaned back, very much enjoying the view as the turbo jock's muscles bulged._

_"Now THAT'S a real man," she said to Sugar, who had been preoccupied seeing if she could lick her own elbow. She could not, if you were curious._

The final clip showed Amy in the confessional once again, some point after Shawn's elimination. She had a big smile on her face.

_"Even if it wasn't my lame-o sister to get the boot, we finally have things going my way on this team. And like, hello, why wasn't it like that already? Now that Sugar's roped in Beardo and Dave, we're untouchable. I guess we didn't need Richard after all." She paused, looking off quizzically. "Or was it Robert? Ralph? Meh, doesn't matter, that guy was a total nobody anyway."_

When the clips were done, things seemed to finally be getting through Rodney's thick skull as he grimaced and hung his head in shame. Some in the crowd yelled out calls in support of Rodney, while others yelled out words of hatred towards Amy. The peanut gallery looked equally disgusted with the mean twin's words.

"Total harshness, dudes," Geoff said, shaking his head. "I think that chick even out cattys the ice dancer lady from the race."

"And that's saying something, dude," Brody agreed. "Totally gnar gnar."

Over at the host couch, once again Ella was giving her co-host a stern look of disapproval. "Oh honestly, Topher. Do you have to play that much to crush his poor heart?"

"I'm just trying to do what's right and show him Amy's true colors," he said, putting on a sickeningly fake tone of sincerity. "We wouldn't want the big guy being strung along by Amy even longer, right? It's better to just rip the bandaid off so he can heal."

"Yes, but you could stand to take a more gentle approach." Eager to prove her point, the nicer host marched over to the heart broken Casanova, kneeling down to meet his eyes and give him a reassuring smile. "Rodney, you're going to make a very special girl incredibly happy one day. You're too good for someone as mean as Amy. You should hold your head up high and take pride in the fact that you'll always be more pure of heart than she is!"

The audience erupted into cheers, captivated by Ella's words of encouragement. Of course, no one was more awestruck by the gesture than Rodney himself, who looked on at her in shock.

"Whoa. That's like... the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me!" He chuckled dreamily, leaning in closer to smile at the now surprised wannabe princess. "You're so kind, Ella. Pretty too. It's like... happy birds and chocolates... teddy bears who dance in the snow and-"

Now that Rodney was firmly stuck in one of his gibberish sessions, Ella glanced back at her co-host to look for a way to move the show along. Tempted as Topher was to let her stay in the awkwardness, they had a time limit to adhere to.

"I think it's time we brought out our penultimate guest of the evening," he announced, motioning to the picture of Dakota on the big screen."

"That's right!" Ella used the opening to rejoin the host couch. "Dakota had the biggest transformation coming into Battle of the Generations. Literally, she had shrunk by multiple feet and even brought along a gorgeous new jumpsuit!"

"But of course, even if she was normally herself, the lingering threat of Dakotazoid could rear its head at any minute." As Topher continued, the right half of Dakota's monitor picture was morphed to resemble Dakotazoid. "Which started out as a good thing, when it saved her team from being devoured by ferocious yetis in Antarctica."

"But then in Japan, Dakotazoid winning her team the challenge cost a fellow competitor a serious injury."

"Oh, oh, she's talking about you, Harold," Owen called out jovially.

"I'm aware," the nerd said. "Thank you Owen, very cool."

"And the worst case scenario came to pass in Madagascar, where Dakotazoid came out at the most inconvenient time. Not only costing Team Radioactive the win, but almost killing them in the process! Hence why she's joining us here today."

Ella clapped enthusiastically. "She's a billionaire heiress that you DON'T want to make angry, here's Dakota!"

While the crowd cheered loudly, some of those on stage tensed up as the rich girl made her entrance. Not everyone, since Izzy looked excited to see her and Leonard was fascinated, but Harold in particular was doing a poor job to hide his nervousness. She smiled awkwardly and took a seat near the injured geek.

"Nice of you to join us, Ms. Milton," Topher greeted. "You can rest easy knowing that, per word from the producers, we aren't to subject you to anything embarrassing or stressful so we don't risk making the other you come out."

Dakota grimaced at the immediate mention of Dakotazoid, but tried to shake it off. "That's reassuring, I guess. You know, it's funny. Back in season 4 being on this talk show would have been perfect for me. I would have ate up all the attention and drama. But right now? Feels like things are a bit tense."

"Well we'll do our best to try and make things more welcoming," Ella assured her. "Have you had a chance to see Sam and your family since leaving the game?"

"Oh for sure! Daddy flew us out to South Africa for the weekend after I got the boot. We did some shopping, ate some great food. It was fun."

"Sounds like it was a much better environment for you to keep your cool," Topher pointed out. "Do you think coming back to Total Drama was a bad idea, or do you wish you were still competing?"

The heiress pouted, needing to take a second to collect her thoughts. "Hmm, well it's hard to say. If I'm being honest, I never cared about winning. I mean come on, I'm not exactly lacking in money so I didn't really need it. The reason I came back was to try and make some new friends and have fun. Considering how I didn't really make any friends, except maybe Anne Maria, I do wish I was still there to keep trying."

"Yeah, it isn't exactly easy to focus on making friends and junk while you're in the middle of a competition," Noah pointed out.

"Speak for yourself, bro," Geoff objected. "I made hella friends back in the first season!"

Topher cleared his throat to get the conversation back on point. "Yeah, I'd imagine Dakotazoid didn't help make things easier for you in that department. Your mutant strength makes you an absolute beast, but it also makes you a huge threat."

She sighed dejectedly. "That's putting it lightly. Thanks to Dakotazoid, I left the season with new enemies if anything. I really hate that I put my team at risk and never patched things up with Leshawna."

Harold looked over, conflicted between feelings of spite due to being injured out of the competition by her and sympathy since her condition was out of her control. Topher took notice and decided to strike while the iron was hot.

"I suppose that's as good enough a segway as we can ask for to finally address the elephant in the room." At his cue, spotlights were focused on Harold and Dakota, both of whom were surprised and nearly blinded by the move. "We have someone here that lost the game due to injury and the one who accidentally injured him. I'd say it's time we get the two of you to talk it out."

"And that requires blinding us, how?" the geek asked while shielding his eyes.

"Ok, well, here goes." Dakota took a deep breath, trying to ignore the blinding spotlight. "Harold, I'm really sorry about what happened. I promise, I didn't mean to injure you. When I get into the zone as Dakotazoid, I tend to just hyper focus on something and don't really pay attention to anything else around me."

He scratched at his chin, still feeling conflicted as he felt the spectators all watching him. "Well... I'm not gonna lie and say that there's NO hard feelings. I was really excited about getting to compete again this season. If I had just been eliminated normally then so be it, but because it was due to injury I can't help but wonder what could have been had it not happened."

"And I get that, totally. I don't expect you to just forgive and forget. Just know that I'm really really sorry. Coming back to this show was a dangerous choice, and I hate that it cost you a shot at the money."

Harold looked at Dakota, sensing genuine remorse in her tone and expression. Eventually he sighed. "Apology accepted. Truth be told, thanks to the Drama Brothers I'm not really lacking for money either. If anything I just wanted to redeem how badly I did in World Tour. But between getting back with Leshawna and still being able to cheer on her and my bros, I guess it's not all bad."

He stuck out an arm for a handshake, which she happily accepted.

"And I know I can't get you back in the game, but Daddy knows some really important people, so if you or Leshawna ever need a favor just let me know. I could hook her up with some of the latest fashion before it even hits the stores, and Sam's been making some big friends in the video game industry he could introduce you to."

Now Harold was looking impressed. "For real? You could do that for us?"

"Of course," She chirped, smiling brightly. "I can give you all the deets."

Since the two of them seemed as reconciled as they were going to get and now deep into conversation with one another, Topher looked to the crowd with a chuckle. "Guess that settles that. Now we can move on to our sixth and final guest of the evening!"

"And this is a big one, since we're talking about a former Total Drama finalist!" As Ella spoke, the monitor above showed the image of the zombie survival nut. "Shawn is undeniably one of the strongest competitors in the show's history. Packing not only countless survival skills that makes him an asset in challenges, but also a strong social game."

"And he was by all means set to be a major player once again, especially since he shared a team with his equally dominant girlfriend." With Topher continuing, clips played on screen of Team Explosive's various challenge wins, all highlighting the survivalist couple. "Together, Shawn and Jasmine made for one of the most threatening duos in show history."

"They were poised to ride their momentum all the way until the merge before the most shocking elimination ceremony of the season struck." Ella placed a hand on her forehead dramatically, pretending to be on the verge of fainting. "In a twist, Sugar and Amy were able to rope in Beardo and Dave's votes, spelling doom for our favorite zombie expert."

"Which may raise even more questions since we all know Amy wanted her sister gone more than anyone else." Topher chuckled, motioning to the side of the stage one final time for the night. "And nobody is asking those questions as much as the man himself, so let's bring him out now. Shawn, everybody!"

Easily getting one of the loudest reactions of the show, the crowd were on their feet to cheer on the former finalist. He waved politely, not entirely sure how to take in the huge reaction. After exchanging greetings with the two hosts, he found a spot next to Rodney on the couches.

"Shawn, buddy! Long time no see." Topher smirked. "Gotta say, I did NOT expect to be interviewing you so soon into the show."

"Yeah, well, you and me both." He grunted in frustration. "I'm still kind of reeling from it all, I was expecting the merge to be nearly impossible to survive, but I never expected my team to turn on me."

"It blindsided many of us watching," Ella said, the crowd voicing their agreement. "Would you mind walking us through your thought process after you found out you were eliminated?"

The conspiracy theorist frowned. "I guess. So from what I understand, Sugar and Amy were somehow able to get Beardo and Dave to both vote with them to kick me off. Now Beardo doesn't surprise me too much. I didn't think we had any beef, but we weren't really friends and I had noticed Sugar suddenly started hanging around him more after Rodney's elimination. I didn't think much of it at the time, but that should have clued me in that something was up. But I have no idea why they voted for me over Sammy, and I especially don't know why my so called friend Dave backstabbed me!"

"Ah yes, Dave. He's more involved in this situation than you may expect." Seeing Shawn give him a confused look, Topher chuckled. "But don't just take my word for it. See for yourself!"

As expected, the monitor switched to showing a scene from the most recent episode in Italy. Specifically taking place on the Jumbo Jet following the results of the challenge being confirmed. Amy and Sugar stood on either side of Dave.

_"Sure, I'll do it."_

_There was a pause, Amy and Sugar both being caught off guard._

_"Really?" The mean twin asked. "Just like that?"_

_Dave nodded. "Yeah, I'll vote with you guys." He noticed that Amy was about to break out in a wicked smile, so he held his finger up to stop her. "On one condition."_

_"Condition?" Sugar looked skeptical. "What kinda condition?"_

_"You let me pick who we vote for tonight."_

Gasps rang out among some audience members, and even from the other eliminated contestants. Shawn was flabbergasted.

"That's right, Dave was the one to pick you for elimination," Topher confirmed. "Had it been up to Amy, it'd be Sammy talking to us right now."

"... But why? Out of everyone from our season, I always thought I was the one who treated Dave the best." He threw his arms up, still shocked. "I know he thought I was weird, but I thought he still considered me a friend. Why the hell did he eliminate me?"

It was Ella's turn to jump in. "If I may, we have footage of his voting confessional. That might help explain things a bit."

Everyone's eyes went back to the screen, which now showed Dave alone in the confessional.

_"Shawn has everything so good," Dave lamented while stamping the zombie nut's passport. "His perfect girlfriend, got to make it to the finale, has countless fans. Well now it's his turn to see what tasting failure is like. Doesn't taste so great, does it buddy?"_

Many in the crowd started to boo, almost rivaling the reaction Amy's clips had got. As for Shawn, he stared at the ground in awe as he processed his former friend's words.

"So... he was jealous of me? THAT'S why he stabbed me in the back?" He looked around for some sort of confirmation, but nobody said anything. "Even though I was the one to be concerned about him after the fallout with Sky? Seriously, what the heck? I don't remember ever trying to rub anything in his face."

"I'm afraid that's all we have right now to offer any sort of explanation," Ella said sadly. "I'm sorry, Shawn."

He shook his head, not sure if he should be angry, sad, blindsided, or any combination of the three. "Geez, and now Jasmine and Sammy are stuck with that on their team on top of having to deal with Amy and Sugar."

"Worried that they won't make it much longer?" Topher asked. "Now that they're on the outs of the team, it'd take some sort of miracle to keep them safe."

"I just said they'll have to put up with him in a way that it'll be unpleasant," Shawn corrected. "I'm not worried about them. They're both tough, I know they can figure a way out of this. Maybe they can flip Beardo to their side? He doesn't strike me as a bad guy, he's probably just being manipulated."

"Very optimistic." Topher chuckled ominously. "We'll see how that works out for them. Anything else you'd like to add before we move on?"

The scruffy boy tapped a finger to his chin. "Well, I guess there's no point in saying who I'm rooting for. Obviously it's for Jasmine and Sammy. Hopefully they also remember to practice good zombie safety. Oh! That reminds me, since you've got me on this talk show thing, I figure it's a good platform to talk about some walker tips. Like what kind of baseball bat is the best to use for self defense against them."

"I'd figure it'd have to be the metal alloy or aluminum bats," Harold suggested. "They're way more durable than a wooden one, plus they'd be easier to clean."

Shawn looked impressed. "That's right! You versed in zombie survival?"

"My years of consuming the best zombie video games and movies has made me a bit of a connoisseur in the field, I'd say," the geek boasted proudly.

Yet again another conversation was going off the rails as the two boys went back and forth talking about zombies. Though it wasn't clear if Harold took them as seriously as his scruffier comrade. Annoyed, Topher clapped his hands to once again regain everyone's attention.

"Actually, before we sign off, we have one more special treat for everyone watching."

Ella looked up at him curiously. "No one told me anything about this."

He smirked. "And you'll understand why after I announce it. Each Aftermath, we'll be allowing one of the former competitors a chance to perform one last song!"

Gasps echoed throughout the crowd, quickly replaced by cheers. Though no one cheered louder than Ella at the prospect of a song.

"Oh, that sounds wonderful!" She leaned in expectantly. "And I'm sure they'll need backup singers as well, right?"

"Sure." His co-host squealed happily, forcing him to hold a finger up to her face. "But singing is for former Battle of the Generations contestants only. IE, not us."

It was as if someone had just told Ella for the first time that Santa Claus wasn't real. "That's so unfair! Geoff and Bridgette sung during the World Tour aftermath!"

"I always really liked that song Geoff sung to diss Blaineley," Owen said from the peanut gallery, getting an agreeing smirk from Noah.

"Bridge's Sorry song was pretty sweet," Brody added. "She looked really ho-" He noticed his bro giving him a rare dark expression, ready to react in potentially severe ways depending on how he finished his sentence. "Honestly sincere, it was a real tearjerker dudes."

Geoff eased up, smiling at the song compliments. "Yeah, why won't they let you two sing? Isn't singing one of Ella's favorite things?"

"The producers make the rules not me." Topher shrugged, not looking like he cared if he could sing one way or another. Though his co-host seemed nearly on the verge of tears. "Tell ya what, I'll see if I can convince them to let us sing in one of the later Aftermaths. Sound good?"

"I suppose..."

He gave a thumbs up, then turned to the six former contestants. "Cool. So anyway, we're already running late so there's only time for one song. You guys sort out who you want to do the honor while Ella and I do an ad."

"Only one of us gets to sing?" Dakota asked.

"We might have been able to do something bigger, but like I said we're running late. So yeah, just one singer." That done, he and Ella turned to the screen and put on their best smiles. "Have you all heard of the year's most ambitious RPG title?"

"It's the epic adventure you can play on your phone with over 400 character to choose from," Ella added. "That's right, today the Aftermath is sponsored by Rai-"

While the hosts continued to shill a shitty mobile game, the former contestants entered a huddle to decide who would sing. They had to partly lean over the couches so that Harold could participate.

"I would have loved to sing a love ballad about Amy, but after everything I heard today I guess it wouldn't work." Rodney hung his head sadly. "Maybe I could think up one for Ella, but I don't think I'd make good lyrics in time."

"Riiight." Shawn looked around at the others. "Well I don't really care about singing, so I'll bow out. How about you guys?"

"I'm still feeling pretty awkward after they put me in that electric chair." Staci fidgeted in her seat. "I'll pass."

"Izzy WOULD normally have fun with it, but she'd rather just go back to making out with Big O."

"So I guess that leaves me and Harold?" Dakota looked down at the geek she had injured. "Well he IS the only real musician out of us. And letting him be the one to sing is the least I could do after everything."

Harold grinned. "Thanks, guys! I have a really good modernized version of the song I sang back on the first World Tour aftermath. This is gonna be straight fire."

The huddle disbanded just in time to catch the hosts finishing their ad.

"-So remember to use code BOTG to get 50,000 Silver and a free epic champion. Download today!" He noticed that the six were waiting for him to finish. "Ah good, you guys are done. So Shawn, ready to sing?"

The zombie nut raised an eyebrow. "Uh, what? We decided on letting Harold sing."

"Oh, you guys don't actually get to choose, I just needed you occupied for a minute so we could do that ad. Network picks who goes, and they said to make Shawn do it this time."

"GOSH! What is it with this dang network and denying me the things I love?" The crippled geek folded his arms with a huff. "Can I at least be in the video?"

Topher shrugged. "Sure, all of you can. Heck, let's get the peanut gallery in on it while we're at it. This is required, by the way."

"I don't remember this being part of the deal when we agreed to come on," Noah objected, only to get picked up by Owen's massive arm.

"Aw come on, little buddy. It'll be fun!"

"I'm down, dudes," Brody agreed, fist bumping a nodding Geoff.

"What do I even sing about?" Shawn asked. "I'm not exactly an expert in song writing."

"Just sing about something you love," Ella suggested. "Like Jasmine! Or, zombie survival!"

Topher rolled his eyes. "Zombies? That'd make for a stupid song."

"Zombie survival is not stupid," Shawn objected. "It's vital information that'll save lives one day!"

"Then put your money where your mouth is and sing about it!"

Leonard clapped happily. "A jaunty tune about combating the undead? Marvelous!"

The crowd was similarly pumped at the idea, cheering Shawn on and even chanting his name. Riding the wave of support, he finally nodded and stood up. "Fine. But you all better pay attention. This stuff could totally be the difference between life and death for you in the future."

* * *

**Song Start!**

**"Zombie Time." Parody of "[Thriller (Music Video Version),](https://youtu.be/sOnqjkJTMaA?t=280)" by Michael Jackson.  
**

[The video began outside the Aftermath studio, in what seemed to be a smokey alleyway. Despite it being daytime in actuality, during the video the sky was dark and cloudy. Smoke seemed to fill the streets and the howls of wolves accompanied the slowly rising ominous tune. Shawn made his way out of the alley, taking off his usual jacket and tossing it off screen. He looked around cautiously, stepping carefully down the foggy street as the music turned to a funky beat.]

_"Alright, first lesson. The zombies always prey, come day or night. No sleep for lurchers, they'll sneak up on you masked within the dark."_

[As he sneaked his way down the street, two heads vaguely resembling Owen and Noah's poked around the corner of a building. They ducked back into cover before Shawn caught sight of them.]

_"And never scream! That sound will make the horde close in for snack time."_

[Behind a nearby trashcan, Staci poked her head out to look at the scruffy boy. Thanks to being closer to the camera, it became apparently that she was adorned in zombie makeup, giving her skin a green hue with what appeared to be rotting flesh dangling from her cheek. Once again, she went back into hiding before getting in Shawn's line of sight.]

_"Beware their squeeze! The grip is just as painful as their bite. Both ways you'll die!"_

[As he rounded a corner, he tensed up as three zombies stood in the middle of the road before him. More specifically, the zombified versions of Geoff, Brody, and Izzy. They lumbered towards him slowly, arms outstretched and groaning menacingly.]

_"Come time to fight them, it's best to try and beat them without a gun. The bang attracts them, just try and melee them down one by one."_

[Proving his point, Shawn showed a prop gun to the screen and decided to pocket it rather than use it on the upcoming zombies. Instead he brandished what looked like a baseball bat. Thankfully for the three zombies it was made of foam, but it looked real enough for the video.]

_"Don't lose your mind! Stay on your toes, don't let the ghouls surround you."_

[Moving expertly, he sidestepped a swipe from the Brody zombie and nailed it in the back of the head with a bat. When the Geoff zombie approached, he hit him in the shins to bring the walker to its knees, then delivered a deciding double tap.]

_"And don't play nice! Keep swinging till you know that they're all done. Then book it and run!"_

[Shawn had a slightly harder time dealing with the Izzy zombie, who bobbed and weaved away from his first two swings. To get her still, he brandished a flashlight and nearly blinded the Izzy zombie with its light. This distracted her long enough to allow him to get a deciding blow to the head. As another corner was turned, a zombified Harold emerged from behind a dumpster and rolled its way towards Shawn. Thankfully the sound of the wheels turning alerted the conspiracy nut, allowing him to safely catch the nerd zombie in a headlock.]

_"Make every move count. Remember that their weak point is the head."_

[Shawn pointed at Harold's head for emphasis, then released him just in time to deliver another expertly pulled off blow to the skull. But even with that zombie down, zombie versions of Rodney and Dakota lurched out from behind the same dumpster. Noting that those zombies would be harder fights, he turned and ran.]

_"They can't outrun you. The zombies aren't a fan of cardio. No time is safe, so try to sleep in a tree or a bunker."_

[A Leonard zombie dived off a rooftop in an attempt to get the drop on Shawn. But he was savy, and rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the sneak attack. As he backed up, he didn't notice as more figures were emerging from out of the alleys around him.]

_"Don't drop your guard! They'll overwhelm you into a mistake. Just one, and it's too late!"_

[As if jinxing himself, Shawn turned around to see the zombified forms of Owen, Noah, Staci all surrounding him, even joined by the former Geoff, Brody, and Izzy zombies. He turned around to flee, but the Rodney, Dakota, Harold, and Leonard zombies had his other side covered. Properly surrounded and with no clear means of escape, he brandished his trusty bat in anticipation of a fight. But then the Izzy zombie tossed a rock and knocked the melee weapon from his hands. He was grabbed by the mighty strength of the Rodney zombie, making it impossible to move out of the way as the rest of the horde swarmed him. The music swelled ominously, turning to an eerie hiss as the ambient wolf howls and raven caws echoed louder. A climatic high note was played as the zombies finally stepped away, revealing that Shawn was now also turned into one of their own. He was also somehow now sporting a swanky red jacket.]

[But just as soon as the camera began to zoom in on the zombie Shawn, the funky beat returned and he twitched his head. He began stomping towards the camera, occasionally twitching his head towards his shoulder. Behind him, the zombified versions of the peanut gallery and former contestants mimicked his moves. They stretched out their arms, lurching their way forward in a sort of sidestep shimmy. As they hopped from right to left, swinging their arms menacingly, it was clear they were moving along perfectly to the beat. It was then that they performed three enthusiastic pelvic thrusts, with some of them looking like this particular move made it hard to continue maintaining an angry and threatening gaze at the camera.]

[Once they were done thrusting, they clapped above their heads and shimmied to their left. Then they stamped their foot and repeated the motion, this time going to their right. They then shuffled towards the camera with their arms outstretched, much faster than usual. Once the zombies had jumped into place again, they held their arms up like claws, swinging from left to right. They stepped to each side, claws held up all the while. Much hopping took place, sometimes facing the camera and other times facing backwards. All the while they moved their arms and gyrated their hips to the beat.]

[After some stylish punching towards either side, some zombies got dedicated closeups as they jerked towards the camera. Zombie Owen had drool hanging from his mouth, colored black and yellow in a grosser than normal fashion. Somehow even Harold's wheelchair looked to be decaying, as mold and fungus covered it while his shattered glasses complimented his demented glare. Dakota's zombie form could have given even Dakotazoid a run for her money, as part of her skull and jawbones seemed to be exposed, thanks to her flesh looking like it was melting off her face. Last was Staci, who had maggots covering her hair and burn marks covering her rotted head. The zombies slowly began stamping towards the left, hunched over as they stomped away from the camera. Then Shawn finally stood back up, now without the zombie makeup but still rocking the jacket.]

_"And now it's zombie, zombie time. They're hungry for your brains, and looks like you are out of time."_

[Despite no longer being zombified himself, the zombie entourage continued mimicking Shawn's dance moves. Some with more grace than others, as zombie Noah especially was starting to look winded.]

_"Watch out for zombies, zombie time. Don't wanna lose your mind inside a walker, lurker."_

[The zombies knelt to the ground while Shawn did a sick spin. They slowly rose around him, some still copying his moves while others showed off more standard zombie-like mannerisms.]

_"Zombie, zombie time! Don't let them hear a sound, no time to scream or time to cry."_

[In a neat shot, the zombies of Geoff, Brody, Noah, and Leonard all lurched in place, somehow both pulling off zombie motions while still dancing.]

_"Zombies, zombie time. You best be set to fight against the lurchers, creepers, eaters. Zombie horde tonight!"_

[Shawn did more sick spinning moves, with the zombies circling and rising around him.]

_"You know it's zombie! Zombie time. Always go for the head, anything else don't even try."_

[For one final time, the zombies echoed his dance moves, repeating things like the claw march or the stomping away from the camera. Shawn did one last spin and posed for the camera as he finished.]

_"Zombie, zombie time. You're fighting for your life against the hungry, angry, zombie time tonight!"_

* * *

Once the video was over, both former contestants and peanut gallery members were somehow back in their original couch positions. The audience and Ella both erupted into cheers and clapping. Shawn almost felt like he was supposed to take a bow, but opted instead to just awkwardly wave at the adoring fans.

"Well I guess that's as good enough a note to end on as it gets," Topher announced, barely able to be heard over the applause. "You guys got any parting words for the fans before we sign off?"

"Be careful with your lies," Staci said. "One day you may end up in a really painful electric chair. Wouldn't recommend it, yah."

Izzy just dabbed at the camera.

"Sometimes life may not be fair," Harold said, pointing at his wheelchair. "But always look on the bright side of things. Don't let it get you down too much, gosh."

"Never give up on love," Rodney announced to the heavens.

"Bottling up your anger can lead to some pretty bad stuff, so maybe don't do that." Dakota winked at the camera. "And stay fabulous!"

"Jasmine, Sammy, you guys got this!" Shawn pumped his fist. "And remember everyone, always aim for the head!"

With Ella finally calming down from the live performance, Topher moved to the sign off. "Than from us here at the Total Drama Aftermath, we've been Topher."

"And Ella!" The fairy tale princess clapped excitedly. "We'll see you next time with a brand new group of guests!"

Both hosts waved goodbye, Topher flashing a cocky grin while Ella smiled sweetly. Former contestants and peanut gallery members alike waved at the camera until the screen finally faded away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bit behind on porting chapters over to here, unfortunately. I'll be trying to upload the next chapter tomorrow. Also with the start of this chapter I'm starting a new way to format chapter songs, including listing what song is being parodied at the start of it. It's extra useful on here because I can actually link the song directly. Nice.


	9. Colombia University of Hard Knocks

"Previously on Battle of the Generations," Chris narrated. "Me and the competitors flew over to Italy for a nice rip roaring pizza time. They were all tasked with cooking a delicious pizza for your's truly, and had to collect their ingredients as they sailed down the Grand Canal of Venice. DJ, Anne Maria, and Beardo stepped up as each team's respective head chefs, and they came up with everything from deep dish vegetarian to a Cajun twist. Despite looking like her New York style plain pizza wouldn't be enough to impress, it was actually Anne Maria that won the whole thing and secured Team Radioactive their first victory."

Inside the cockpit, Chris could be seen still eating leftover slices from Anne Maria's pizza. His crunching and salivating was quickly getting on Chef's nerves. "And lemme tell ya, it's just as good days later. Anyway, Team Explosive weren't able to out perform DJ in a cooking contest, so they were up for elimination. Knowing that she may be in danger, Amy brought along Sugar to try and convince Dave to vote with them. And it worked, but Dave forced their hand into allowing himself to pick their target. So who did he have them vote off? None other than his poor unsuspecting former friend, Shawn!"

Chris laughed mischievously. "He didn't see that one coming! And neither did Sammy or Jasmine. Will the two of them get to the bottom of Shawn's exit? Will I make everyone cook me something else since they're shockingly good at it? Just where will the Jumbo Jet be dropping them off next? You'll have to plant your butt right there and watch to find out, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

***** Opening Credits *****

Like many episodes before it, things opened up on the now familiar sight of the cargo hold. Cody drummed his fingers along a wooden crate while the members from Team Radioactive waited in their own ways. For Dawn, she silently meditated atop a different crate. B was tinkering with his singing device, ensuring it would be properly charged for the upcoming singing episode. Brick merely sat on a box patiently, though Scott was tapping his foot out of frustration next to him.

"Seriously, what's taking them so long, they shoulda kicked someone off by now!" The dirt farmer huffed, leaning his back into a crate and sinking to the floor. "There was some dang good looking cobbler in first class with my name on it, and I don't need Lightning eating it all before we're back."

"He strikes me of someone that doesn't eat many deserts anyway, so you probably don't gotta worry about that," Brick pointed out, getting his teammate to perk up. "But then again, Anne Maria may end up wanting it."

"Uuuugh," was all he mumbled back, groaning from the sheer boredom of waiting.

At this point, even Cody looked to be getting more finicky. Though for him it was more out of nervousness than boredom. "Scott does have a point. As long as it's been since Chris called them, they should have been back here by now. It's super weird."

"Patience is a virtue, my friends," Dawn said wisely from her stoop, her eyes remaining shut all the while. "Chris is very unpredictable, it's possible there may have been some sort of tie breaker that took a long time. I have no doubt that we'll be hearing from them soon."

Sure enough, it was then that they heard someone approaching. Thought it was notably quieter than what sound one would expect three people to be making. Things became even more confusing for everyone when Sammy was the only one to emerge around the corner. They took quick note of her shook up demeanor.

"There you are, we were starting to get worried." Cody chuckled, but then realized Shawn and Jasmine weren't present. "Uh, where are the others?"

"It isn't like Shawn to be tardy, these checks were his whole idea anyway," Brick added.

Sammy looked around at everyone, unsure of how to properly break the news. She tugged at her arm awkwardly. "Uh, well I guess I have good news and bad news for everyone. The good news is that you don't have to help check around the cargo hold anymore."

Even Dawn and B looked surprised at that, finally making the mystic open her eyes. "Why so? As deep rooted as Shawn's fear of zombies is, it wouldn't make sense for him to ease up on his precautions out of the blue."

The nice twin bit her bottom lip, looking away. "Well that's the bad news. Shawn... got eliminated."

Varying degrees of shock spread among the others. Scott shot up from his seat, looking more perplexed than anything. "He was like your strongest member and junk, why the heck would you vote him out this early when it could be the difference between economy and first class?"

"I didn't!" She sighed in frustration. "And neither did Jasmine. It was my sister. She somehow got everyone else to vote her off."

Now it was Brick's turn to look confused. "Er, I'm a bit confused so don't take this the wrong way, but from what I remember watching your first season that doesn't make sense. Wouldn't your sister wanted to have voted you off instead?"

"Trust me, I know. I have no idea why she changed to voting for Shawn, much less why the others would go along with it." She would have been able to glare a hole through the floor if it were possible. "All I know is now me and Jasmine are on the outs of our team, despite the fact that almost all of our wins were because of her and Shawn. None of this makes any sense."

"So, uh, how is Jasmine doing?" Cody asked hesitantly.

Rather than immediately show her answer, the camera perspective instead switched to economy class in the middle of a tense situation. Namely, Jasmine had Dave held by his collar and pinned against the wall while a yelling match ensued. Team Old School could only look on in entranced fear, not daring to get in the way.

"Now you put him down right now, Missy," Sugar yelled, trying to sound intimidating. She went entirely ignored by the Aussie.

"He was your FRIEND, ya bloody stooge," she hissed, her death glare very nearly piercing the germaphobe's soul. "What on Earth would make you backstab him like that?"

Fearing for his well being, Dave was far too petrified to try and respond. He tried to pull away from Jasmine's gaze, but her dagger-like piercing glare made him feel like he was in a staring contest with Medusa. Amy tried in vain to tug the Aussie girl away from her ally.

"Your lame-o boyfriend lost fair and square, get over it!"

Dave's body made a thud as he was finally dropped to the floor. A small "eep" escaped Amy as the incensed Amazon turned the glare her way. Even the normally unbothered Sugar couldn't help but feel a bit of nervousness seep in. As Jasmine began stomping her way over to the mean girls, fire in her eyes, it was actually someone from Team Old School that decided to finally act.

"Ok girls, that's enough." Trent got between Jasmine and Amy just before it seemed the tall girl was about to wind up a punch. "I don't know what happened between you all, but this isn't the way to resolve it. No more taunting, no more threatening, it's only going to keep escalating things."

"But she started-"

"I said what I said," the musician quickly bit back, silencing the cheerleader. "Both of you need to cool off."

An awkward silence followed, with all three girls involved sizing up the others in an attempt to determine their next move. Using the distraction as a cue, Dave took the opportunity to scurry away, still having not said a word. Finally, Jasmine snorted and stomped away to cool off.

"This isn't over."

Ending on that, she left towards the cafeteria without so much of a glance at anyone else. Sugar and Amy exchanged a look, unsure if they should feel like they won the exchange or just avoided serious danger. Having watched the drama the whole time, Beardo tried to clear the tension with an awkward chuckle.

"So, uh, what's the deal with airline food? Am I right, guys?" He mimicked the sound of a rim shot, but only got befuddled looks in response that confirmed this wasn't the right time for jokes. He sighed, doing a sad little "wa wa waaa" trombone sound.

***** Cockpit Confessional: Jasmine *****

"That little witch has a lot of nerve bad mouthing Shawn like that in front of me," she hissed, smacking a fist into her other hand. "She should be thanking her lucky stars that Trent jumped in before I bashed her up something proper, swear to me mum I would have."

"Tsk tsk, Miss Jasmine, you should know violence against other contestants is grounds for being ejected from the game," Chef said from the pilot seat, waggling his finger. "I'm very ashamed of you right now."

"Since when has THAT been a rule? Wouldn't Dakota have been ejected back in Japan for what she did to Harold if that was the case?"

"Well there's the accident forgiveness clause, you see." He whipped out a huge stack of papers, putting it on the ground next to her. "You'd know all about it, if you'd read the gosh darn contract."

Leaning towards him, she rolled up her sleeve and readied her fist. "Alright, ya wanna be cheeky? I got something for you to read right here."

"Oh come on, not agai-"

The camera cut to static just before her fist could make contact.

***** In the cargo hold *****

Back with the former zombie search crew, Sammy had finished her explanation to the best of her abilities. Everyone looked around, unsure of what to do next.

"So, I guess that's it then?" Brick finally said. "No more zombie searches?"

"Well they were only to keep Shawn at ease, so yeah basically." Sammy sighed once more. "For what it's worth, we really appreciate you guys helping us out all this time."

"It was our pleasure." Dawn gave the nice twin a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I know things may get tough for you and Jasmine going forward, but you can brave the storm. I feel a dose of karma is destined to come your sister's way."

One by one, Brick, Dawn, B, and Scott all filed their way out of the room, offering Sammy their own bit of condolences as they left. When they were gone, only her and Cody remained. The tech geek looked on at his crush awkwardly, he could tell she wasn't in the highest of spirits after everything.

"You gonna be alright?" he asked. "I mean, I know you're closer to Jasmine than you were to him, but I'd imagine this is still rough."

"That's putting it lightly. Him getting eliminated is one thing, but it's the fact that now I know it's basically me and Jasmine vs the rest of our team." She kicked at one of the crates in frustration, though still showing enough restraint so that it didn't actually do any damage. "If we lose again I'm definitely gone, then Jasmine after me."

Cody tapped at his chin, thinking things over. She was right, for Shawn to have been voted off when he, Jasmine, and Sammy were voting together did mean that everyone else on Team Explosive voted against him. And if everyone took part in that vote, it meant a certain someone was included.

"Actually, I think I may be able to help with that." Sammy gave him a confused look. "Harold wanted us to see about asking Beardo to be a member of the band, what with his musical knowledge and unique sound. Trent and I haven't really talked to him yet since Harold got voted out, but we may just yet be able to convince him to switch votes."

For the first time since Shawn's elimination, the nice twin perked up. "Wait, for real? You think the two of you can do that?"

"I think so." Cody nodded. "I'm not sure why he voted off Shawn to begin with, but he strikes me as a pretty cool dude. If we explain how messed up your sis is I'm sure it isn't out of the question to think he may vote against her with you two. It would lead to a tie breaker, sure, but you can totally kick her butt."

"That would be awesome! Thank you so much, Cody." He flushed at her warm smile, his face turning a tomato shade of red.

"Heh, no problem."

***** Confessional: Sammy *****

"Geez, I really hope Cody and Trent are able to pull off getting Beardo away from my sister. Honestly, I think I care more about making sure she DOESN'T win than I do winning myself. Her ego is already the size of Ontario, the last thing the world needs is letting her brag about winning a million bucks."

***** In First Class *****

While the others had been doing whatever it was they did in the cargo hold, Lightning wasted no time in taking full advantage of what first class had to offer. After stuffing his face with the best high protein meals they could cook up, he then decided to treat his muscles to a soothing massage. Anne Maria was nearby, enjoying a facial mask treatment.

As the others started to file back in, Scott was delighted to see that the cobbler was still all his. With him scarfing that down, Brick noticed the uber jock being pampered and decided to approach him mid-massage.

"That was a good hustle in the challenge, soldier!" He saluted at Lightning, not that he could see due to his face being down on the massage table. "I think you're starting to see the light of how useful teamwork can be."

"Hey, just remember that is was my lit cooking that got us the big win in the first place, capiche?" Anne Maria snapped from nearby.

"Of course." Brick chuckled, putting up his hands defensively. "In fact, I'd say we ALL contributed to a downright nifty win that made us nearly unbeatable!"

"Bro, is there a point to this or are you gonna let the Lightning have his massage in peace now?" the jock grumbled, turning to look up at the cadet.

"Oh, I'm just trying to help you learn the importance of teamwork is all. You're a heck of a competitor on your own, so if you learn how to cooperate more with your teammates then the sky's the limits!"

Lightning raised an eyebrow, confused. "Why do you even care, man?"

Brick faltered a bit but tried to stay in high spirits. "Well for one I just think it's for the benefit of the team that we're all on the same page. If we keep up our performance like in the most recent challenge, I think it'll be OUR turn to have a winning streak. But more than that, I believe in allowing people to redeem themselves and prove that it's never to late to become an upstanding person! Why just look at the progress Scott made."

"You DO remember that he once stole everyone's junk and was gonna pin it all on you, right?" Anne Maria pointed out. "And then he put it on Dawn instead."

"Hey, that was one time!" Scott spoke with his mouth full, bits of cobbler falling out and making a mess on his shirt.

"Er, right. I haven't forgotten. Nor has Dawn, I would assume." Brick looked over at the aura reader, her being deep in meditation in the floor. She merely nodded. "Right. But what's important is that he's grown as a person since then. And I think Lightning could do the same!"

The jock in question blinked in confusion. "If you sha-say so, dude."

***** Confe** **ssional: Brick *****

"Sure, Lightning may look like a tough nut to crack, but I think there's a good person below that cocky exterior! Dawn has kinda done the bulk in making sure Scott stays on the straight and narrow, so I'll take it upon myself to work on him. I think we'll be making progress really soon!"

***** Confessional: Lightning *****

"That dude's a sha-weirdo."

***** In Economy Class *****

Breakfast had already come and gone, and now the contestants could merely linger around the plane and await the news of their next location. The faint sounds of cheering and joy could be made out from First Class. It went without saying that Team Radioactive was having a great time enjoying the fruits of their first win. But the mood in economy was much more tense, mostly filled with an awkward silence.

Team Old School didn't really know how to go about their usual mingling with the lingering awkwardness left by Team Explosive. Jasmine's foot was twitching rapidly, she looked ready for a fight at a moment's notice. Sammy still seemed distraught, though now she looked to be more concerned about her friend's well being. Amy had a salty glare, upset that she couldn't be soaking in her successful game move. Dave and Beardo had come to accept the awkward silence and just sat patiently. As for Sugar, she was bored, so she decided to take a nap.

"So, uh, where do you guys think we're going next?" DJ finally asked cautiously. "Considering where we've been to thus far, I'm thinking it might be somewhere in Oceania."

He received pointed looks from Jasmine and Amy both, making him shrink back into his seat. "Er, forget I asked."

"It was worth a try," Beth whispered, giving him a reassuring pat on the arm.

"Tsk tsk, you're WAY off the mark, DJ!"

Everyone looked up at the intercom, Chris' voice blaring loudly enough to wake Sugar up from her snooze.

"We're heading to South America. Specifically, we're going to the city of Guatape, smack dab in the middle of Colombia!"

"Ain't Colombia a clothes company or something?" Sugar asked, still groggy from being awoken. "How in the Sam Hill do we visit something like that?"

"That's a different Columbia. It's not even spelled the same way." Courtney shook her head. "I'd say we should get our game faces on, but as dysfunctional as their team seems to be, I don't think we have anything to worry about."

Jasmine snorted, her determined expression unchanging. "Oh, we ain't losing. I'll make sure of that."

She gave Sugar and Amy a side eye unnerving enough to put some fear into them. Meanwhile, no one else noticed as Cody started whispering something into Trent's ear. The guitarist gave his friend a firm nod and both glanced over at Beardo cautiously.

One screen transition of the jet heading towards South America later, and game time was upon them! As they made their descent they passed over various brightly colored houses the lined the streets of Guatape. The land was surrounded by a lot of water and smaller surrounding islands, but most prominent of all was a large rock hill with a staircase leading to the top. It was near this very inselberg that the plane landed, with the contestants filing out and eyeing it cautiously.

For once, Chris joined them in his standard attire. Perhaps he couldn't be bothered to find an outfit specific to the location. "Welcome to Colombia! You may or may not have noticed that we're close to a big ol rock over there. It's kinda hard to miss." He waited for everyone to turn their attention to the rock in question. "That there is The Stone of Guatape. And today, our challenge sorta centers around it."

As he continued talking, some interns carted out crates of various supplies. Notably a lot of paint, cloth, wood and other craft related tools.

"The challenge takes place over the course of three steps. Step one, you'll each be crafting a hang glider!" He motioned towards the supplies while the crates were being busted open for easier access. "Guatape is renowned for their flashy buildings, so feel free to go all out on making your glider look cool. Just, you know, make sure it works. You'll be needing it to!"

Courtney raised a hand. "Is anything stopping us from just making a normal hang glider to get through the challenge as fast as possible?"

"Yup, Chef will be guarding the entrance to part 2 of the challenge. No originality means he won't let ya pass, so you all better put some flavor on it." He pointed a thumb towards the base of the stairs leading up the massive rock. Indeed, Chef stood in front of the stairs, arms folded and glaring at everyone with a snarl. Perhaps he was extra angry due to the black eye he was sporting courtesy of Jasmine. "Speaking of which, part two! You'll have to carry your hang gliders aaaaaaall the way up those stairs to the top of The Stone of Guatape. I don't recommend dropping it or letting it get broken, ESPECIALLY if you're high up the stairs."

Beth looked at the top of the rock, taking in just how ridiculously high up it went. She gulped, raising a hand of her own. "I'm guessing for part 3 we'll be using them?"

Chris responded with two finger pistols and a click of the tongue. "Correctomundo! For the final part of the challenge you'll be flying your gliders to a nearby island that's been marked with a checkered circle. Don't worry, you'll know the island once you get up there. First team to get everyone on that island successfully wins first class. And, well, you all know the rest by now. We'll get things started here in a few minutes."

Everyone took a minute to digest the info. B was looking especially confident, ready to flex his building skills with a glider that would surely impress. DJ, still with his fear of falling into water from high up, was taking some deep breaths to try and calm his nerves. And of course there was Jasmine, with fire in her eyes and a pointed look going Amy's way.

"Try and throw the challenge and you're getting tossed off the bloody rock," she said ominously, cracking her knuckles for added affect.

"Um, hello? Is she even allowed to threaten me like that?"

She looked over at Chris, who merely shrugged. "Something something, nothing about it in the rulebook, something something, as long as she doesn't follow through, something something, it's outta my hands."

"Just do the challenge right and we don't have a problem," the Aussie added. "It's as simple as that."

With nothing else to say to the mean girl, her and Sammy took their leave to go get a look at the supplies they had to work with. Once again Amy was left to simmer in a silent rage while Sugar looked on stumped.

"Well shoot, with that fire under her butt we might not be able to get rid of them as soon as we were hoping," the country girl noted. Amy groaned.

"Right? We should have got Sparemy out while we had the chance!" Seeing Dave standing nearby, she jabbed a finger at his chest. "I sure hope you're happy."

The germaphobe put up his hands defensively. "Hey, you guys agreed to my terms, I didn't have a way to control how she'd react. If you guys are so bummed out about not being able to eliminate one of them for now, how about you try and get out someone threatening from the other teams?"

Both girls looked at him with blank stares. Amy huffed. "And just how the heck do we do that, smart guy?"

Rolling his eyes, Dave surveyed the enemy teams. Both were fairly huddled together and showing a worrying amount of unity compared to the fractured Team Explosive. But he smirked when his eyes landed on one contestant in particular. "Well, this is supposed to be a singing episode, right?"

Both girls followed their ally's gaze, seeing that he was looking at B in the middle of nodding along as something Dawn was saying. Quickly formulating a plan, they exchanged a sinister grin.

***** Confessional: Dave *****

"Do I regret eliminating Shawn? Nope. Not even a little bit." He stared out the window with a wimpy pout. "Jasmine can threaten me all she wants, it won't bring him back. He's had things way too good for too long. Well this time I beat him! I can hold my head up and say that it was ME to eliminate one of the show's strongest finalists. I'm not gonna let people look down on me anymore, once I win this season everyone is gonna regret talking trash about me!"

***** At the Bottom of Rock of Guatape *****

"There's no time limit on how long it takes you to make your hang glider, but since it's a race to not be last and all I wouldn't recommend dilly dallying." Chris chuckled, waving his arm in a GO motion. "Begin!"

The three teams immediately dove into the haul of materials, sorting for whatever would be the most useful. On their respective teams, Courtney and B directed traffic and barked out orders of what people should grab. Or in B's case, he made the motions and Dawn translated them. Jasmine took on a much more aggressive version of the role, yanking away supplies and tossing them into various piles for the others while Sammy got her own. Dave and Beardo exchanged a look, shrugging as neither dared to object to the tall girl's methods.

While Jasmine was a bit distracted, Amy felt it was a good time to strike. B had just finished signaling the supplies for his team and was taking over his own haul of supplies.

"Ok, you distract him and I'll grab the thingy," she whispered.

"You sure you can pickpocket?" Sugar asked. "A preppy gal like you don't strike me as knowing how to get down n dirty."

Amy rolled her eyes. "I learned how to yank money from mom's purse without her noticing, I kinda had to when she cut me off after last season. As long as you keep his attention I'll be fine."

Well that was good enough for Sugar. She did a two finger salute and nodded. "Can do, missy! Watch Sugar work her magic."

As poor unsuspecting B began spreading out his glider supplies and mentally mapping out how his glider would go, a sultry jazz theme played in the background. Sugar strut over to the enemy team member, trying to flaunt her stuff as much as possible. Of course, she went entirely unnoticed by the brainiac until she was in his face.

"Howdy!" Her voiced startled him enough to where he almost yelped. Almost. "Boy, this really seems like your kinda challenge, huh?"

B raised an eyebrow, unsure why an Explosive member would be talking to him, in the middle of a challenge no less. Then again this was Sugar, so he eyed her curiously.

"Ah don't worry, I ain't up to no good." She chuckled, elbowing him in the ribs. Meanwhile, Amy was beginning to nonchalantly move by, making sure she wasn't noticed by B's teammates. "Yer too smart of me to pull the wool over your eyes, eh?"

Not really sure where she was going with this, B just gave a sort of perplexed nod of thanks. Just as he tried to walk away, the country girl stopped him with a hand placed on his chest. "Ya know, I really admire smarts on a guy. You really know your way around some neat toys, am I right?"

Now B was getting properly unnerved, to the point where he didn't notice as a dainty hand carefully reached into his front right jacket pocket. To ensure he wouldn't look down, Sugar cupped his chin in her hand and gave him a flirtatious look.

"Ya know, I don't know if you saw my last season, but you kinda remind me of the wizard. Except, ya know, there's more of ya." She glanced over at Amy, who now had a hold of B's singing device. She began pouring a water bottle all over it, making sure to try and soak the insides through any slots that led to the inner mechanisms. Then she saw that the genius looked offended. "Which is good! You're a WHOLE lotta man. And like the wizard, I like my men the way I like my mud baths. Nice and dark."

Amy and B both went mouth agape at the comment, though the mean twin had the resist the urge to verbally react and instead slip the device back into his pocket before sneaking away.

"So if ya wanna put a little extra sugar on that chocolate after the season is over, call me!" She gave the large boy a wink and returned to her own team, leaving him absolutely dumbfounded.

***** Confessional: B *****

Obviously without saying anything, the disturbed boy wretches and proceeds to throw up into the toilet.

***** In Guatape *****

With that ordeal out of the way and one contestant permanently scared for life, now focus could be placed on the challenge. Dawn could sense a disturbance in her friend's demeanor as he tried to shake himself back into the game and help everyone through building their gliders, but he wasn't about to divulge on what had just transpired. Meanwhile, Team Old School was making solid work as everyone seemed to have a decent enough grasp on how to build their glider.

"As weird as it sounds, this kinda reminds me of making those cool little wooden cars back in scouts," Cody mused as he began to cut his cloth into a glider shape. "Except, you know, when we test out these things we're falling from the top of a rock if it doesn't work." He chuckled awkwardly.

"We'll be fine, Team Explosive is way too dysfunctional to beat us," Courtney said confidently. "But I do wanna try and beat Radioactive. It's time we took back first class!"

"And you just wanna rub it in Scott's face, yeah yeah, we know." Beth hummed to herself, not noticing the glare she got for her comment. "Did you guys see any glitter over there? I really wanna use some for the decoration portion!"

"Yeah, I think I saw some near the spray paint," DJ confirmed, glancing behind his shoulder at the massive rock. "Just make sure you don't make your glider too heavy. Remember, we gotta haul the thing all the way up that."

Everyone looked back at the Rock of Guatape. By Cody and Courtney's calculations, it was around 650 steps and would be a long climb for sure.

"No worries, we got this," Trent assured the others, giving his best supportive smile for emphasis. "This is a cake walk compared to some of the crap we've done over the years."

"Wonder when he's gonna make us sing?" Leshawna added, hammering away at some wood. "None of this really screams that it'd make a good song break."

"Guess we'll leave that as a mystery, eh?" Suddenly said Chris as he leaned down into the huddle, properly unnerving everyone. "So chop to it! We're burning daylight out here, people!"

Not needing to be told twice, everyone prepared to transition into the decoration portion. When it came to the build and quality of the gliders, Team Radioactive definitely had the best. Thanks to B's guidance translated by Dawn, they were built sturdy and aerodynamic. Teams Old School and Explosive had solid gliders with orders given out by the likes of Jasmine and Courtney, but there was still a lot of challenge to go.

Everyone was putting their own personal spin on the decoration portion. As she had hinted at already, Beth waddled back to her station with a big container of glitter to go with her paints. Dave was lacking in inspiration, so he decided to just paint his in the kind of colors like the Colombian houses Chris showed them as an example. Not much of an artist, Scott just kind of crudely brushed away, not really caring if it looked good as long as he felt it was cool.

"Should we wait to go all at once or just get going once we're each done?" Leshawna asked her team while finishing up some shiny gold paint finish on one portion of the art. "I'm thinking it might be safer to go together."

"Good point, never know when one of the others might try to mess with our gliders if they can single us out on the stairs." Trent looked back at Sugar, who was splashing paint on her cloth with no rhyme or reason. "All at once works for me."

"Let's at least make sure Chef approves of them as we finish, that way we're all ready to go at once instead of arriving as a group only for one or two needing to go back and do more," Courtney added.

Meanwhile, Team Radioactive had a less smooth time agreeing on a game plan.

"The Lightning thinks we should just all go when we're done, no point waiting around for the others to hold us back."

"We all must finish for us to win, getting there before the rest of us doesn't earn us anything," Dawn pointed out.

"It's just a climb up the stairs, what are the others gonna do, try and block us?" Anne Maria asked. "If anything, we'll be able to see the quick people glide first and know the best way to get to the finish line while we watch them from the stairs."

Brick tapped on his chin, humming in thought. "That's not a terrible idea, but in the event that something DOES go wrong it's better to have the whole squad together than scattered."

Of course, any argument that team was having didn't compare to the awkwardness on Team Explosive.

"I'll go last," Jasmine said in a matter of fact tone, eyes leveled at the team's mean girls. "And Sammy will go first. Understood?"

Beardo gave a thumbs up with a ding sound affect, though Sugar and Amy were unsurprisingly unconvinced. Nonetheless, they at least knew there was no point in debating the matter.

More time passed. and people began to finish. A few members from Team Old School waited next to Chef for the rest of their team, their gliders already approved. Beth's glider depicted crude drawings of her and Lindsay lounging together on beach chairs. Next to each of them, Brady and Tyler fanned them with a large leaf. And then she covered the whole thing in glitter to make it pop. Trent's design was more modest, showing a stylized version of the Drama Brother's logo while the remaining space of the cloth was decorated with music notes. Last standing in wait was Leshawna, who had gone for an image of herself modeling a dress. It was a dress of her own design, a chic red number with gold accents. Also in the drawing was a little Harold who applauded the beauty before his eyes.

***** Confessional: Leshawna *****

"I've been thinking of starting my own clothing line if I win! I'm thinking stuff that's classy, but also good to wear in the city. Something when you see a sister walking by wearing it, it makes people's heads turn, ya feel me?"

***** At the Bottom of Guatape Rock *****

Lightning was the first to actually start climbing the stairs. He had also went for a self portrait design on his glider. His drawing skills weren't great, but the image was undeniably creative. He was in mid jump, about to slam dunk a basketball into a net with his left hand. With his right hand he was tossing a football into a field goal, and below that was a soccer goal where he was kicking a ball into with his left leg. On his right leg was a ski, because he was doing all this while skiing down a huge mountain.

Brick wasn't far behind, he had opted for a camo design with a lot of foliage lining the cloth to give the appearance of a ghillie suit. Dawn was close by, approaching with a glider that crafted the image of woodland animals frolicking around on. She even added various flowers to the design for added flair. Elsewhere, Jasmine was taking note of the progress the others were making, and she looked at her team impatiently.

"Well, almost done? We don't have all day."

"I'm going, I'm going," Amy whined, trying her best to finish up the art piece that depicted her favorite things. Namely, money, clothes, hunky dudes, and cheerleading pom poms. Next to her. Sugar was applying the finishing touches to her glider depicting pigs jumping over a mud pit.

The Aussie tapped her foot, clutching her glider depicting a cool shot of the Australian outback under her arm. Now Team Old School was just waiting for DJ, while Scott and Anne Maria had also began their climb up the stairs. Finally, just as DJ and B were running to make their climb as well, Amy felt satisfied with her work.

"There. Happy?"

"Thrilled," Jasmine spat, urging everyone to get a move on. "Now let's go!"

***** Confessional: Sammy *****

"I'm kinda worried about Jasmine. She's really not taking Shawn's elimination well. I mean, obviously she was always going to take it poorly, but I'm starting to worry she'll be stuck in this angry rut." She tapped a finger on her chin. "Maybe she'd feel better once Amy is gone? But until we know Cody and Trent have gotten Beardo to flip, our best bet is to just stay safe for now."

***** On The Rock of Guatape *****

By now everyone had successfully got their gliders approved and were beginning their climb up the gargantuan flight of stairs. The more athletically inclined like Lightning and Brick were making quick progress, but the less fit such as Beardo were clearly struggling. Per their plans, Team Old School and Explosive were both grouped together on their journey up, while Team Radioactive were spread out.

The stairs were along the side of the rock and spiraled up the rocky wall. As a result, it required people to flip and position their gliders in awkward ways to safely carry it up, sometimes by precariously holding it over the side of the railing. People gripped the handles to their handmade aircraft tight, especially since some pesky wind wasn't making things any easier.

"Of course Chris would pick the windiest day possible for us to- WHOA!" Dave was cut off as a particularly strong gust caught him off guard. He slammed into the railing and suddenly dropped his glider. He yelped in fear, only for Jasmine to quickly pluck it safely from below before it could fall to the ground.

"Hold on tight," was all she grumbled before passing it back up to the skinny dude.

Team Old School was having a less troublesome time during their group climb. Most of them were confident enough in their grip to not worry about losing their glider, while the likes of Cody and Beth received help when they felt that they were in danger. All things considered, they were making good progress.

Meanwhile, Team Radioactive was all over the place. Literally. Lightning and Brick were still the farthest ahead, with the former making it halfway up before his pace finally started to slow a bit as the climb caught up to him.

"This hunk of rock ain't got nothing on The Lightning," the jock boasted confidently, though he did have to pause and catch his breath. "But sha-dang is it tall."

He moved to lean his arm against the guardrail, only to be caught off guard when a piece of it chipped off. This threw him off balance and in an instant caused him to drop his glider over the edge.

"No!" He grabbed in vain, just missing the aircraft as it plummeted down. "This can't be happening!"

He leaned over, looking down in despair at his mistake. But then a miracle happened. Upon looking down, he saw Brick clutching his fallen glider in one hand while the cadet's own was tucked under his other arm. He was leaned against the side of the stairs, balancing and trying not to fall.

"I got your six, soldier," he called up, chuckling nervously. "But uh, I'm kinda struggling here. Care to help a guy out?"

Still in disbelief, Lightning shook himself back to reality and blinked a few times. "Oh, uh, yeah. Be right there, bro!"

***** Confessional: Lightning *****

"Can you believe that? Lightning fumbled? Lightning never fumbles! This season is sha-whack." Exhaling, he shook his head as he looked down in disbelief. "If that thing woulda kept falling, Lightning woulda been eliminated for sure. Guess Brick really had my back, huh?" He looked deep in thought, a rarity for the meathead. "Sha-damn butterfingers..."

***** On The Rock of Guatape *****

A fair amount of time passed, and it was clear that people were hurting. 650 plus steps was no small task to take on, and some of the contestants were looking straight up miserable. Even Lightning was getting winded after having to go run down to Brick's position and then keep going all over again. Between all the breather breaks and continued urging to continue from certain contestants, at some point everyone was starting to get really close together.

"People climb this stupid thing for fun?" Scott yelled, practically dragging himself up the stairs as sweat drenched his shirt. "Here's an idea, next time put in an escalator!"

"You can't just put an escalator into the side of a rock and call it a day, moron," Courtney barked from below, leading the pack of her team. "There's a lot more to it than that."

"Well how about you take care of it if you're so smart?" He quipped back. "Or are you too busy enjoying the view since I'm up here."

"Oh-" She paused, wanting to say something like don't flatter yourself. But that was too many words. Girl was tired and on the verge of collapsing. She could only manage two words tops. "Shut up."

"I'd like to point out that she didn't deny it," Dawn pointed out overhead, just close enough to hear the exchange. "Perhaps you truly are starting to get through to her."

Courtney just groaned, ignoring the taunting looks she got from her team. Below them, Team Explosive was on its last legs. Beardo and Sugar in particular looked like they had just stepped out of a sauna. The former's massive afro had even begun to deflate as a result of so much sweat.

"Dude, you really could had stood to get a haircut before the season started," Dave pointed out, not exactly looking much better himself. All Beardo could do as a response was imitate the sound of bacon frying in a pan, followed by a dog panting.

With a bit more forced progress, Brick and Lightning were finally the first two able to push themselves to the top of the stairs. They stumbled over to the nearby watchtower, where Chris was somehow already there standing nonchalantly.

"It's about time! What took you guys so long, the show is only 30 minutes an episode you know!"

The duo merely groaned, ignoring the host entirely and collapsing to catch their breath. While on the ground, Brick looked around for what they needed. There were a bunch of small islands surrounding the rock, mostly unassuming with nothing of note to them. But finally he caught sight of his target, specifically a certain island that had a huge tarp spread out in the middle of some trees. On the tarp was a checkered bullseye. It wasn't the easiest thing to see, but it was just visible enough to confirm that this was their destination.

"We're almost there, we just gotta fly down to the bullseye." He nudged the jock with his elbow. "Come on, our team is counting on us!"

Lightning confirmed where the bullseye was, nodding confidently. "We sha-got this!"

"Loving this confident energy, you guys," Chris complimented. "And since it looks like the others aren't far behind, it's gonna get intense in the sky as you all race to the bottom. So... why don't we add some ambiance, hm?"

*** DING DING DING ***

"Uuuugh." Brick burried his face into the ground. "I forgot about the singing being this episode."

"It's awesome, right?" Chris chuckled in amusement, noting how close the others were getting to the top. "Anyway, I'd get a move on if I was you guys. You won't keep your head start for long."

* * *

**Song Start!**

**"Bullseye Marks the Spot." Parody of "[Danger Zone,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK0P1Bk8Cx4)" by Kenny Loggins.**

[Five notes on a keyboard start out the music video before it transitions into a sick rock beat, with the guitar putting in work. Up at the top of the rock, Brick and Lightning were now clad in the sort of bomber jacket and pants one would expect from a naval aviator. Their outfit was completed by some slick sunglasses. Rather than holding hang gliders, in the video they appeared to both be seated in their own bomber jet.]

_"We got our eyes on the prize, you know these bros are about to soar."_

_[Brick confidently readied himself for takeoff, looking over at Lightning at mention of the word bro and flashing a thumbs up. The jock seemed confused at first, but could help and grin.]_

_"No other team can compare, let em sha-hear our roar."_

_[The two exchanged a nod and turned on the ignition. They put the petal to the medal and their jets rocketed off the rock at top speeds.]_

_"And the bullseye, marks the spot."_

_[Brick and Lightning flew next to each other, leaning forward and pushing theirs jets as fast as they could manage. Suddenly they noticed two unknown aircrafts in their rear view and looked back to see Leshawna and Courtney piloting two other jets.]_

_"Your girls are com-ming in hot."_

_[The girls put on determined looks, quickly closing the distance between them and the Radioactive boys. Not about to back down, Brick and Lightning put on their best game faces and increased speed as much as they were able.]_

_"Shredding through the skyline, gonna catch that wind just right."_

_[Cody was the next to sing, exchanging a fist bump with Trent before they both hopped into their own jets.]_

_"Our team's soaring back to first class, we'll be sittin pretty tonight."_

_[The guitarist radiated confidence as the two began to catch up to their teammates in front of them. They got a bit flashier, doing a loop and turn in their jets.]_

_"And the bullseye, marks the spot."_

_[Both Drama Brothers passed by the screen, singing in unison. Not far behind them were Dawn and B, with the later only steering with one hand as the other prepared his singing device.]_

_"And nothing's gonna make any of us stop."_

_[Dawn began singing the line with a smirk, but by the time she finished it her expression fell as she realized she had sung the line by herself. She looked over at B, who was staring at his singing machine, puzzled. He tried typing into it once more, but it instead poofed a small black cloud as part of the inner mechanisms short circuited. His eyes shot open as he quickly realized something was wrong.]_

_"Oh hey, what's the matter big guy? Looks like your little doodad don't wanna work."_

_[Sugar taunted the silent genius from her jet to his left, grinning maliciously.]_

_"Say, what was that about the rules? If someone don't sing then their butt goes home!"_

_[Now it was Amy heckling the big guy, this time from his right. B was quickly able to put two and two together and grit his teeth while zoning out the mean girls. He popped up the singing device's backside, whipping out a tool kit while steering with his legs. All the while an intense guitar solo rang out as the sweating B worked against the clock to get his invention working before the song was over.]_

_"Clock is ticking, big guy. Let's go and get a move on, B!"_

_[Anne Maria was urging her teammate as she passed him by, a look of concern evident. Scott was close behind her, looking even more frantic.]_

_"If that hunk of junk is broke, then you're just gonna have to sing."_

_[Scott looked on at his former foe desperately, not wanting him to be eliminated. B was feeling the added pressure, quickly trying his best to tinker with his device to get it working again. He had by now noticed the water damage and was using a special cloth to try and repair the damages.]_

_"And the bullseye marks the spot."_

_[Jasmine and Sammy sung together as they passed by B, the former looking at him in confused suspicion. She could tell something was up, but was not currently in any position to press matters in the middle of a song.]_

_"We're not gonna let our stair climb be for naught."_

_[Now it was Beardo and Dave passing by the tech guy, with them also giving him a curious glance from their jets but not having anything else to say on the matter.]_

_"And the bullseye marks the spoooooot."_

_[The final pair, DJ and Beth, were finally also sailing pass B. DJ in particular nailed the high note of their line, while both looked on at the big guy pitifully.]_

_"And it looks like your time is shot!"_

_[The final line was sung not by B but by Amy and Sugar in unison. Just as he finished his repairs and prepared to deliver a line, the girls sandwiched him between their jets, causing him to hit the side of his cockpit violently and drop his device in the process. Conflicted, he opened his mouth to try and sing himself, but each time his aircraft was struck by one of the girls before he could get it out."_

_"And the bullseye, marks the spot!"_

_[Amy and Sugar traded singing the chorus back and forth, each hitting B's jet with their line to prevent him from opening his mouth. It was the country girl that went last, hitting an ugly high note before the song finally ended.]_

* * *

With the music video finally over, the visuals returned to normal to show everyone in the middle of hang gliding down to the bullseye. The exceptions were Lightning and Brick who had successfully landed, though they were looking up at their teammate in shock. Brick in particular was very distressed.

"B, no!"

"B yes," Chris replied through his megaphone from next to them. How did that guy move from location to location so easily anyway? "It would seem a certain someone failed to sing before the end of the song. Not cool, dudes. You all should know the penalty for that."

Up in the air, B's jaw had dropped. Dawn, Scott, and Anne Maria looked back, eyes wide in shock. They pondered if they even needed to continue the challenge at this rate if an elimination was decided? Then again they were already in midair anyway, so they may as well.

"Tough break, loser," Amy jeered from nearby, a smug grin taunting him even further. "Guess that's what happens when you won't talk!"

Perhaps shook back to reality, the silent genius looked over at the mean twin with fury burning in his eyes. Which got him to thinking. If he was out, was that it for the episode? Or, knowing Chris, would a vote still take place? This little distraction had caused him to trail behind everyone else. The last thing he needed to do was cause his team to be down TWO members at once.

So he thought fast. Reaching into his massive jacket, he pulled out just the thing he was looking for. A lighter. Flicking it on, he quickly took measure of the wind and the trajectory he's need for what he was about to do. The calculations hopefully sorted in his head, he threw the lighter with pinpoint accuracy. It made contact with Amy's glider, immediately setting it ablaze.

"What the?" Was all she had got out before the highly flammable paint she had used on the glider caused it to burn to a crisp. Yelping, she quickly began to drop like a sack of potatoes. As luck would have it, Sugar was flying directly below her. The speed of the fall caused her to fall through Sugar's glider, creating a massive hole that sent the country girl sinking as well.

While all of this was going on, slowly but surely others made it to the bullseye. Dawn and Anne Maria made it for their team. Jasmine, Beardo, and DJ had a quicker trip due to their greater mass. More and more members landed from each team, but once Beth had hit the ground Chris could make an announcement.

"Looks like everyone from Team Old School is here! First class goes to them!"

Cheering was still underway from the victorious team as the stragglers finished their landing. Dave made it to the ground before B had, but because Amy and Sugar were currently stuck in the water surrounding the island, Team Explosive was incomplete.

"And it looks like Team Radioactive finished their squad next. So Team Explosive gets to vote someone off!"

"What?" Sammy looked terrified, motioning an arm at B. "But if someone is already getting eliminated why do a vote?"

Chris shrugged, an innocent smirk plastered on his handsome face. "Eh, we were due for a double elimination soon anyway. This just made the timing decision easier for me! B may be donzo, but at least he prevented Team Radioactive having to vote someone ELSE out."

It was then that people took notice of the guy in question. B hung his head in defeat, fists clenched as he inwardly cursed himself for not talking in time. Sure, he tried his best to never speak, but this was a million dollar decision he had just made. His team approached their fallen comrade, some patting him on the back in comfort.

"Ya went down swinging for your platoon, you have nothing to be ashamed about," Brick reassured him with a salute. "Thanks for that."

"What the heck even happened up there?" Anne Maria asked, eyebrow raised. "What happened to your doohickey?"

B's response was to level a glare and point towards the edge of the island. Sugar and Amy were beginning to climb out of the water, the later even coughing up a clump of damp grass. Upon seeing the mean twin, Cody's eyes went wide in realization.

"Oh crap..."

***** Confessional: Cody *****

"Geez, I didn't think I'd have to be doing this so soon, was kinda holding out hope that Team Radioactive would lose one or two more times." He chuckled awkwardly. "Well, time to work the Codester magic!"

***** On the Jumbo Jet *****

Beardo wasn't feeling too hot coming off his team suffering another loss, so to calm his nerves he was whistling the battle theme of a certain well known video game skeleton. He turned the corner, on his way to economy class when he was suddenly face to face with Trent and Cody. He imitated the sound of a car screeching to a halt.

"Hey man," Trent greeted. "Can we talk?"

"Uh... sure?" the beatboxer replied nervously, still not too used to talking with people outside of his team. "What's up?"

"I'll get to the point since you guys are voting someone off tonight." Cody took a deep breath and put a hand on the fellow musician's shoulder. "Listen, I don't know the whole story of what's been going on with your team, but I need you to do me a solid and not vote off Sammy tonight."

Beardo tensed up. How did they know who Sugar had asked him to vote for?

"We get it when it came to Shawn," Trent continued. "Dude was a huge threat, especially with Jasmine around. Tell you the truth, I think we were all kinda relieved to see him go since we don't have to go up against him now. But come on, things on the plane are just more unpleasant with Amy around."

"I know for a fact Jasmine and Sammy will be voting for her," Cody added. "With you that would make it a tie. Then at least it's fair and it can go to a tie breaker."

The dude with the huge afro looked between the two, filled with doubt. Beads of sweat started to form as he thought over his options. "I-I don't know, guys. Amy ain't the best to be around, you're right on that, but I gotta do what's best for my game, ya know?"

Both Drama Brothers looked at each other, nodding. Cody sighed. "I don't know what Amy's been telling you, but just trust us on this one. We really want everything to pan out how Harold wanted with the band and all, so can't you just do us this one solid?"

"They don't even have to know it was you," Trent pointed out. "They might think Dave did it. Sammy might not even win the tie breaker, she just deserves a fighting chance against that bogus sister of hers."

Now shaking like a leaf, Beardo gulped and nodded hesitantly. "A-alright. I'll think about it."

"That's all we ask for." Cody offered a smile. "Sorry to put you in an awkward spot so suddenly, man. We didn't really have a lot of time to work with."

Beardo just nodded in understanding and the duo took their leave. Once they were out of earshot, he leaned against the wall and put his head in his hands. "Crap... what the heck do I do?"

***** Confessional: Jasmine *****

For a minute she just stares out of the window, her expression a mix of anger and disappointment. Eventually she yells in frustration and punches the wall. "One challenge. Couldn't get through ONE bloody challenge with Shawn gone. Now it's either me or Sammy leaving, while that witch gets to act all high and mighty. Well she better damn well vote me off if she has any sense in her. Because if she doesn't, Sammy isn't gonna be around to calm me down anymore. Then she'll WISH she had been voted off last time."

***** At the Elimination Ceremony *****

In a rare twist, both Team Explosive AND Radioactive were gathered on the bleachers. Though Chris still only had the five peanut filled barf bags.

"Don't know about you guys, but it's feeling a bit cramped in here with all these people," Chris mused, chuckling at the amount of despair going around. "Does it make ya dudes feel all nice and cozy? Maybe gives off a sense of togetherness?"

As expected, everyone just gave the host varying degrees of dirty looks.

"Heh, tough crowd. Welp, Team Radioactive, you dudes just hold tight while we get this show rolling, eh?" Chris picked up the first barf bag, turning his attention to Team Explosive. "Tonight's first barf bag goes to... Sugar."

The country girl whooped, fists pumping as she ate up her prize. "Boom!"

"Also safe is Beardo and Dave."

While the skinnier boy looked unbothered by it all, the beatboxer was sweating profusely. People were starting to take notice, but Chris kept going before anyone could inquire as to what was messing with him.

"Aaaaaaand Jasmine. All of you are safe."

"Hmph." The survivalist just swatted the bag out of the air before it hit her, glaring at Amy. "Big mistake, sheila."

"Ya know, your dumb tough girl act doesn't really bite as hard when you're on the losing side," the mean twin bit back, smirking in satisfaction.

"Ahem! I believe I was still speaking." Chris shushed the girls. "Let me do my job."

"What's the point?" Sugar asked. "We all know Samey got the votes, it's obvious!"

"Really?" Chris chuckled mischievously. "IS it obvious?"

Sammy gasped while many of the others just looked confused. Sweat poured down Beardo's forehead even faster, with the nice twin giving him a side eye and wondering if he had successfully been swayed after all. Doubt sank in for Amy, and now it was her turn to go wide eyed from fear.

"Well then, as I was saying." Chris held up the final bag, looking between the sisters. "The barf bag goes to...

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... Amy!" He paused, then retrieved another barf bag from under the podium. "And THIS one goes to Samey!"

He laughed maniacally as both girls were tossed their symbols of immunity, a variety of shocked expressions throughout the team. Even Team Radioactive had been watching the ceremony with baited breath and were surprised by the outcome.

"So, both of us are safe?" Sammy asked for clarification.

"Yup! The votes were a tie, and since we're running low on time as it is I decided to just let you both stay."

Amy clenched her fist, crushing a bunch of peanuts in the process. "But what about when you said we were due for a double elimination! Why even hold a vote in the first place?"

"Eh, I thought it would be funny." He shrugged. "I can just do the double another day. Now get to scooting, Team Radioactive has to say their goodbyes and junk."

Tensions were obviously still riding high, so for a moment nobody moved. Both twins were relieved to still be safe, but Amy quickly let frustration settle in. Sugar and Dave were just confused, unsure how the vote was a tie to begin with. Jasmine was the first to act, letting out a deep breath she didn't even realize she was holding in and moving towards economy class. The others begrudgingly followed, though at the back of the pack Sammy briefly stopped Beardo.

"Thank you," she whispered, giving him a warm smile. "Seriously, thank you."

"D-don't mention it," he mumbled, gulping as he looked ahead at the rest of the team. "Like, for real. Please don't."

Once those two were gone, the spotlight was finally back on Team Radioactive. Specifically B, who had a parachute thrust into his arms by Chef.

"Silent B! What can I say, man, I had a feeling the singing rule might take you out, but props on figuring out a loophole to last you a bit." Chris tossed the guy his device, which has finally had time to air out. "We fished this thing out of the water in case you wanted to keep it."

B nodded appreciatively, pocketing the device before turning to face his team. Lightning and Anne Maria were the first to approach, neither looking too broken up but they still offered their sympathetic grimaces.

"Sorry ya had to go out like this, big guy," the jersey girl said, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder. "You pretty cool for a geeky guy, ya know?"

"Sha-bummer," Lightning added, thumping a fist against his chest. "You helped us a bunch this season, bro. Respect."

They moved aside to allow the others a chance at parting words. Dawn immediately moved in for a hug while Brick saluted his silent teammate.

"It was an honor fighting alongside you," said the cadet. "You'll be missed."

"Best of luck out there, my friend," Dawn added. "I'm certain the universe will reward your brilliant mind sooner rather than later."

B smiled, appreciative of the wave of support. But his expression turned to one of a raised eyebrow when his final teammate approached.

"Ok, I get it, I know how this must look." Scott rubbed the back of his head, genuinely looking apologetic. "But you gotta believe me man, I did NOT do it. You've pretty much been the MVP of the team so far, I-"

Suddenly, the silent genius held up a hand and shook his head.

"He believes you," Dawn said, smiling. "And believe me, with as much reservations as he had at the start of the season to give you another chance, that's REALLY saying something."

B nodded in agreement, smirking through the disappointment of elimination. He offered a fist bump that the dirt farmer was ultimately glad to return. With everyone now having their chance to speak to him, he gave one last silent finger pistol towards his team before walking to the open hatch.

"B my dude, anything you wanna say before ya go?" Chris asked, eyebrow raised. "You know, anything to say in general?"

Considering that this would be his last chance to speak in the competition baring any potential return, B paused to seriously consider it. What more memorable way to leave the game than by uttering his very first sentence on TV? So, after clearing his throat, he turned around and opened his mouth to speak... only for the Boot of Shame to come immediately swinging down. He fell to the ground below, yelling in his deep baritone.

"Ah come on, isn't that literally how you eliminated him last time?" Anne Maria asked.

"It it ain't broke, don't fix it." Chris laughed shooing the team away so that he could do his outro. "And that's one team down their smartest member. It's gotta suck, but at least he stopped them from losing two people, eh?"

"What do you think he was about to say before you hit em with the boot?" Chef asked. "I bet he was about to spill the beans about Staci secretly still being on the plane."

"Dude, don't even joke about that." Chris shivered. "Even joking about the Zeke incident gives me the willies."

A transition moved the two to the cockpit, where Chris could resume his usual spiel.

"Now that they're one B less, can Team Radioactive bounce back from this loss? Will Amy and Sugar get a dose of karma for all their meddling? Has Beardo been successfully flipped to Samey and Jasmine's favor, or will he be consumed by the dark side once more? And just who will be the next one to get kicked out of my jet? Well you'll just have to tune in next time to find out! Right here, on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

**Voting Confessionals:**

Amy cackled with delight as she stamped her sister's passport. "Too bad so sad, Sparemy. Don't worry about us, if we lose again then your dumb tall friend is right behind you. See you never!"

Beardo was nearly on the verge of hyperventilating as he looked between Amy and Sammy's passports. He imitated the sound of a nuclear siren, inwardly conflicted. Finally he closed his eyes and brought the stamp down on Amy's passport. "Hoooly crap, I hope Sugar doesn't get too mad about this."

"Hey, I'm a man of my word." Dave shrugged and stamped Sammy's passport with no hesitation. "Heck, if anything I'm happy. You seen the googoo eyes her and Cody have been giving each other? What's up with that, they hardly even know each other."

Jasmine glared at Amy's passport with absolute hate before stamping it. "It's futile, I know. But like hell I'll vote for anyone else other than you."

"Please please please, let's hope Cody and Trent pulled it off." Sammy gave her sister's passport a stamp. "I am SO ready to beat her in a tie breaker. I know I can do it. Can't let her win. I won't."

Sugar laughed to herself as she stamped Sammy's passport a few times with glee. "Two turkeys down, one to go! I already Sugar'd Jasmine last time I played, but maybe she'll get lucky and we'll keep winning after this. Then I can Sugar her again at the merge!"

Votes for Amy: 3 (Beardo, Jasmine, Sammy)

Votes for Sammy: 3 (Amy, Dave, Sugar)

Votes void, B disqualified due to not singing.

**After the Boot of Shame:**

As B continued to plummet to the Earth below, he had retrieved the former singing device from his pocket and was tinkering on it with a screw driver. A few adjustments here, and the crossing of a wire there, and suddenly the thing beeped back to life. Satisfied, he deployed his parachute and looked towards the camera. For the briefest of moments he considered speaking directly to the screen, but instead opted for the now fixed device.

"SO, THAT WAS TOTALLY BOGUS," the device's sound system blared out while B typed on it furiously. "I MEAN I GET IT, I DIDN'T SING, BUT IN MY DEFENSE I WAS SABOTAGED. AMY AND SUGAR NOT SO SUBTLY MADE THAT MUCH CLEAR DURING THE SONG. WHY EVEN MESS WITH SOMEONE NOT ON THEIR TEAM, ANYWAY? WHAT A BUNCH OF NO GOOD BIT-"

Suddenly he was cut off as his parachute snagged on the gutter of a Colombian house. Taken by surprise, his grip on the device was loose and it shattered on the ground below him like a pinata. Looking down at his destroyed invention, he sighed in defeat.

**Remaining Contestants:**

Team Old School: Beth, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Leshawna, Trent

Team Radioactive: Anne Maria, Brick, Dawn, Lightning, Scott

Team Explosive: Amy, Beardo, Dave, Jasmine, Sammy, Sugar

**Elimination Order:**

18th: B

19th: Shawn

20th: Dakota

21st: Rodney

22nd: Harold

23rd: Izzy

24th: Staci


	10. Max Mayhem

"Previously on Battle of the Generations," Chris narrated. "We made our way down to the quaint town of Guatape, Colombia. Everyone was tasked to build a hang glider that they would then have to haul up a giant rock before using it to reach the finish line on a separate island. Between Sugar and Amy scheming, and Lighting almost fumbling his glider, it was a nice easy win for Team Old School. But what wasn't nice and easy was the fate for B, who got his singing machine sabotaged by our devious duo. Due to him not singing, it meant a big DQ for B! But some quick thinking on his part ensured that his team wouldn't be sending two people home.

At the ceremony, Amy and Samey found themselves in the bottom two. It should have been an easy win for the mean girl, but thanks to some work put in from her flirtmance partner, Samey managed to tie up the votes! So I just gave them each immunity and decided to delay double elimination for another day. Will today be the time to kick two suckers out at once? Can Amy and Sugar continue to stir up the doodoo? And will Team Old School finally do something major, because they've just kinda been vibing lately. We'll find out the answer to all of this and more, right here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

***** Opening Credits *****

While things were getting pretty tense back in economy, things started out in the calm peaceful environment of first class. Beth and DJ were both getting pampered with facial mask treatments and a shoulder massage from the in flight masseuses. Courtney was close by, giving the duo a side eye while enjoying a manicure of her own. The others were on the other end of first class, chatting it up as per usual, so she made a quiet noise to try and get DJ and Beth's attention.

"Pssst... psssssst." The two finally looked at her direction, cucumbers still on their eyes. "We need to talk strategy sometime soon."

"Strategy?" Beth took one of the cucumbers off and popped it into her mouth. She kept speaking despite her mouth being full. "What is there to talk about when we're winning?"

The CIT wiped the spittle and cucumber pieces off her face with a huff. "Plenty, because who knows how the next challenge is going to go. It's better for us to be prepared in case Chris screws us over. I know you two aren't the most strategic, but we still need to map out a plan."

DJ sighed. Man was just trying to enjoy his massage in peace. "Well when do you propose we talk, anyway? Wouldn't it be kinda weird to do that while the others are around?"

Literally the moment after the question was asked, Cody had suddenly stood up from his seat. "Geez, I'm way too on edge right now. Think they already finished the ceremony?"

Trent shrugged. "We could always go check. I'm sure they've done the eliminations by now."

"I'll tag along," Leshawna added, doing what almost looked like a little dance. "Girl's gotta hit up the bathroom, so that's on the way anyway."

Despite the three having not heard any of the strategic conversation, they all left together anyway. The other trio blinked in confusion.

"Huh. That was convenient," Beth mumbled.

"No kidding." Shrugging, Courtney decided it was best not to question it. "So how are we feeling right now? It's been a bit since we had to vote off Harold so I think it's best to touch base first and see where everyone's head is at."

Beth almost instinctively touched her own head, as if to make sure it was still there. "I'm not sure I understand what you're asking..."

"I guess what I mean is how confident are we feeling and what do you two think our next moves should be? I have some ideas, but wanted to hear from both of you first."

DJ scratched at his stubble, not too sure of how to respond. "I don't know, I guess things feel pretty chill right now? I'm not like, nervous or nothing. I think we agreed last time we talked that if we lose again it's probably best to vote for Cody since he's easiest to beat in a tie breaker."

"That's assuming the tie breaker would strictly be something physical, who knows if Chris may spring something stacked in Cody's favor. Remember what happened with Gwen and her eucalyptus allergy?" Even Courtney was willing to admit the unfairness of the elimination with her grudge against the goth mostly subsided. "So it may be better to get rid of the biggest threat if we can instead."

Beth looked on quizzically. "I guess that would be Leshawna, right? She's super tough, but we could beat her if the tie breaker is like a dance off or something. Plus she'd have Harold waiting for her, so it'd probably sting the least for her getting eliminated."

Impressed, the latina nodded in approval. Truth be told, Leshawna was who she had been wanting to target recently as well. "Agreed. But IF the tie breaker is physical, that would pose a problem. So, we have to figure out how to break up their votes."

"But you've said it yourself, they're tight as glue," DJ pointed out. "How the heck do we do that?"

"We'll have to do it from the inside," Courtney explained, suddenly whipping out a chart she had prepared for just such an occasion. On one end of the paper was a column of drawings, Courtney at the top, DJ below her, and Beth at the bottom. An arrow next to each of them pointed to a different column of drawings. Courtney's pointed towards a Cody drawing, DJ's pointed at Trent, and finally Beth's at Leshawna.

"Wow, you came prepared." Beth giggled to herself. "And here I thought you would swear off charts after what happened in All Stars."

Courtney leveled a glare at the farmer and had half a mind to make a snappy comeback but was able to stop herself. "It just helps me feel organized, is all. Anyway, here's what I'm thinking. We each try to get in good with one of the others in an attempt to sway their vote the next time we're up for elimination. It's unlikely for all of us to succeed, but all it takes it one of them not voting together to ensure that we have the majority. Then we wouldn't even have to worry about winning the tie breaker."

The brickhouse let out a deep breath. "I don't know, Court. This all feels kinda underhanded. How do you even cook up schemes like this?"

"When you're on this dumb show for 5 seasons you may as well learn the ins and outs of it," Courtney said with a shrug. "It'll be fine, we just need to sway someone's vote once, then we don't have to worry about anything else. We'd be able to nix Cody and Trent after Leshawna, and I'm well aware that I'd be next if it came down to the three of us. It's an absolute win for you guys."

The two exchanged unsure looks, both mulling over the plan in awkward silence.

"I guess we can give it a shot," DJ eventually mumbled.

***** Confessional: Courtney *****

"Beth and DJ are nice. Real sweethearts." Her happy grin gave way to an annoyed scowl. "But I don't need nice if we want to win, I need allies that are willing to do what needs to be done. It's not like I have much to choose from. I doubt the other side of the team would exactly be welcoming me with open arms considering Gwen and I's... let's call it, storied past. Those two are my best shot, so hopefully I can whip them into shape. It'll be me in the tiebreaker with Leshawna, otherwise."

***** Outside Economy Class *****

Leshawna had already excused herself to the bathroom while Cody and Trent hung back in a hallway with Sammy. All three had varying happy vibes about them, with Cody looking especially relieved.

"So it really did work?" Trent chuckled. "Glad everything went down well in the end."

"Have you had a chance to talk to Beardo since the results?" Cody asked. "How's he holding up?"

"He looked pretty nervous after everything. He's probably pretty worried about Sugar and my sister getting mad at him for flipping." Sammy was looking around, making sure one of the mean blondes wasn't about to turn the corner and hear the conversation. "But with Dave on the team there's always the possibility they'll doubt it was him. And either way, there's no way my sis will switch to wanting him gone before me or Jasmine, so he should be ok."

Trent smirked, stretching and giving a fake yawn. "Well, glad to hear it. Guess I'll head on back to first class then."

He gave his friend a subtle nudge and wink before retiring back to the winner's compartment. Cody and Sammy both chuckled awkwardly, unsure who should talk first.

"So, uh, thanks again for helping us like that," the cheerleader eventually said. "Seriously, you didn't have to do that. Chris probably would have made me take the drop with B if it hadn't been a tie."

"Ain't nothing but a thang," he tried to say in a suave voice while leaning coolly against the wall. His nerdy efforts got a silent giggle that went unnoticed. "Maybe we could even convince Dave to turn against her too? That way you don't have to worry about Chris potentially rigging a tie breaker."

The nice twin waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, I'm looking forward to getting to humble her when I win it. Besides, I don't know how well that would even work. Dave's been acting weird ever since Shawn left. I don't know what's up with him, but I wouldn't even begin to know where to start with him."

Cody nodded in understanding. "Fair enough. And how about Jasmine? How's she doing now?"

***** Confessional: Jasmine *****

For a few moments the outback girl just starred off, lost in her thoughts all alone. Eventually she exhaled and looked at the camera. "So, it was a tie. And according to Sammy it was thanks to Beardo. I'm grateful, really I am, but because it was only a tie that means Dave still voted against us." Her expression grew more spiteful and she lightly kicked the wall. "Dumb little dingo. What's his damage, anyway? Ah well, I guess if we're not on our own anymore I should be happy. So... thanks, Beardo. We're not gonna take this for granted."

***** In the Cafeteria *****

Breakfast on the Jumbo Jet was more or less business as usual this morning. Team Old School were peppy and relaxed thanks to their good night's sleep in first class. The others were a bit more grumpy due to Economy taking its toll, though many on Team Radioactive were still especially glum in the wake of B's elimination. While obviously not the most social teammate, he had been the team's brains and more than pulled his own weight.

Sensing a chance to try what the nicer folk called 'cheering people up,' Scott cleared his throat to get his team's attention. "Alright, let's not beat around the bush. With Bev out, we need to appoint a new person in charge of providing the smarts for the team. And it's all of your lucky day, because I accept the job!"

The plan worked and got the rest of his team to laugh, though his surprised reaction called into question if he was perhaps actually serious.

"Sha-please, dude. Even The Lightning could be the brains of the team before yo-" The athlete in question was cut off from a suffocating spray from Anne Maria's hairspray.

"Go _sha-please_ ya self, bub," she snarked as Lightning nearly coughed up a lung. "Between the two of you combined that's like, what, three brain cells max?"

Brick chuckled at the ongoing shenanigans while also giving Scott's words some thought. Without B, who WOULD be the team's most dependable brains? Definitely not Scott or Lightning, but not Anne Maria either. He didn't mind being in a leadership role himself, but on the specific topic of smarts...

"I think Dawn has a good head on her shoulders," he eventually said, taking the moonchild by surprise. "She knows a lot about different places we've been, too! I'd trust her with providing the smarts for the team."

At first the dumber trio were silent, but after a moment they relented and nodded in agreement.

"Works for me," Anne Maria said. "Heck she gives us an edge over the others with her crazy mind reading mumbo jumbo."

"Good point," Lightning added with a finger pistol. "Yo short girl, can you use that psycho sha-nesis stuff to tell us what the next place we're going is?"

"Aura reading isn't the same as being psychic," she replied, puffing her cheeks out in frustration. "And while I appreciate the compliment, Brick, there's no way for me to know where we're going next. Your guesses are as good as mine."

"Well guess no longer," Chris suddenly yelled, having been waiting for the perfect opportunity to make himself known. His sudden appearance startled Dave so much that he nearly choked on his own eggs. "I come now to answer that very question. I figure some of you are getting pretty homesick by now, so..."

Chef ran out, proudly flying a Canadian flag on a small pole. He waved it around while Chris saluted. "We're going back to our homeland itself, Canada!"

"Our?" Anne Maria scoffed and returned to spraying her hair. "I'm from Jersey, ya block head."

"I ain't no Canadian, neither," Sugar grumbled before eating the rest of Dave's eggs considering how he was busy trying not to die.

"Do I even need to say anything?" Jasmine added, arms folded.

The host could only glare at the interruptions and blow a childish raspberry. "Well it's home for _most_ of us, anyway. Specifically we're heading up to Montreal! Kinda crazy how we never visited Quebec back in World Tour, eh?"

"Montreal?" Beth repeated before raising a hand. "Are we gonna need to know French for this challenge? Because I went with Latin in High School when they gave us the choice."

"We'll be fine," Courtney assured her. "I'm not a fluent expert or anything, but I know quite a bit of French if we need it."

"Same here." Trent nodded. "You tend to pick up bits and pieces of a lot of languages when you're touring."

The other two teams exchanged some looks, seeing if any of their own would have some French knowledge if needed. Thankfully both Dave and Dawn confirmed having knowledge in the language, so they were all in business.

"We'll be landing shortly... oh, and don't egg on the paparazzi too much." Chris chuckled to himself. "Word got out that we'd be doing a challenge in Montreal, and now there's a huge crowd gathered where we're landing. Try not to let the mob devour you!"

"Easy peezy." Cody looked entirely unimpressed and waved his hand dismissively. "If you guys need any help knowing how to give the media a slip just let me and Trent know. We've become pros at it by now."

***** Confessional: Trent *****

"Dealing with reality show fans can get crazy enough as it is. Cody can especially attest to that. But you add boy band fans to the mix? Then mix them together into one big unholy stew?" A chill ran up his spine and made him shiver. "Sometimes having security isn't enough. You really gotta learn how to hide yourself."

"And yet you STILL can't remember how to lock a bathroom door," Chris yelled as he swung open the confessional door. Like previous times the guitarist jumped back in shock, though that soon gave way to a glare. "Seriously, buddy, you gotta work on that."

"Our tour bus bathroom doesn't HAVE a lock, sue a guy for making a habit of not having to do that." He huffed, folding his arms and scooching towards the wall in an attempt to maximize the distance between him and the host.

***** Outside the Montreal-Trudeau Airport *****

The jumbo jet made its descent into Montreal. Well, technically the airport itself was in a place called Dorval, a few miles away from downtown Montreal itself. But why sweat the details? Either way, a faint rumbling noise quickly amplified the closer the plane got to the ground. It was enough to make the inhabitants look out the windows to find the source of the noise. It was a crowd. A rather large one, in fact, just as Chris had warned.

Beardo gave a low whistle, looking on in awe. "Dang, that's a heck of a turnout. You guys deal with mobs like this often?" He gave a glance towards Cody and Trent specifically. "Well, other than y'all that deal with crowds for other reasons."

"Yes, though the turnouts would typically become smaller and smaller as the years went on and the show's popularity dwindled," Courtney answered, unable to hide a cocky grin when she spotted a large 'Courtney is a Queen' sign among the crowd. "I suppose the gap between your season and this one has made fans antsy to see it return, hence the turnout."

"Yo, do we get time to sign some autographs," Anne Maria barked out, pulling out a pen from her shirt. "You know your girl's gotta show her fans some o that TLC."

Chris and Chef were walking by, sizing up the sea of people outside. He shrugged. "I've got a few media interviews to blaze through when we land, so knock yourselves out. The interns are gonna try to keep the crowd under control, but don't come crying to me if you get eaten by the horde!"

Jasmine shivered at the wording. "Shawn would have hated this, he'd be convinced there's a zombie in that crowd. Guess that's the one upside of him not having to be here for this."

Either not caring about the fans, or perhaps assuming there wouldn't be many people out there for him anyway, Dave leaned against the wall and gave the host an inquisitive look. "What are we doing for the challenge, anyway? You haven't told us anything about it."

"Glad you asked, Davey Boy." Chris pointed some finger pistols his way and grinned. "Because we're treating this challenge as a big Canadian Homecoming, we're going to be heading down to the Olympic Stadium to compete in what I like to call the Canadian Grand Prix! Get ready for maple syrup chugging, curling, moose riding, and all sorts of great white North goodness."

Everyone took a second to process the challenge details. It didn't sound too crazy, but those not from Canada seemed a little more hesitant about it. Taking note of this, Beth elbowed DJ and smiled.

"At least we'll have the upper hand if there's like a Canada trivia portion or something. Our team's the only one to be fully Canadian!"

"Well, if you wanna get technical I was originally born in Jamaica." He chuckled at Beth's wide eyed reaction, that detail having apparently slipped her mind. "But for sure, I'm all about us cinching another win and keeping first class on lock down."

***** Confessional: DJ *****

"I've been pretty wary around interviews every since things went south with me and Momma's cooking tour. It doesn't help that all the interviews I took after World Tour kept bringing up animal curse this, and Team Victory that. It just wasn't a good vibe, ya know?" Taking a deep breath, he tried to shake off his nerves. "But that was years ago. I'm sure the fans have calmed down since then!"

***** Outside the Jumbo Jet *****

"O-M-G, MARRY ME, TRENT!"

The fans were uproarious, yelling out cheers to their favorite contestants left and right as the 17 of them approached cautiously. Every so often someone's voice would stand out among the mob and reach them.

"LESHAWNA, YOU'RE A GODDESS!"

"LIGHTNING IS THE BEST, LIGHTNING NUMBER ONE!"

"IF IT DOESN'T WORK OUT WITH SHAWN, CALL ME, JASMINE!"

"DJ, I'LL BE YOUR NEW BUNNY IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!"

At first everyone just sort of looked around, not really sure what to make of the spectacle. Some were amused, others a bit terrified. Dawn spotted a sign that claimed she was "The best waifu," and while she didn't know what that meant she for some reason felt unnerved. Beardo was especially shocked to see a section of the crowd aiming their cheers at him, their calls of appreciation turning him a shade of red and making him cower back behind Jasmine.

"I haven't seen them like this in a long time," Leshawna eventually said, spotting her adoring crowd that was a mix of stylish girls and Harold-esque scrawny dweebs. "Kinda don't know how to feel. On one hand they're A LOT, but on the other hand it's kinda nice being this appreciated."

"No kidding," Beth agreed as she meekly waved at the nerdy section of the crowd cheering her name. "And they're all being so nice too!"

Well, not all of the words from the crowd were positive.

"YOU SUCK, AMY. WORST SISTER OF ALL TIME!"

"SUGAR? MORE LIKE, SOUR!"

"DAVE IS A DOODOO HEAD!"

There were, of course, supporters for those people trying to drown out the haters. Or at least there were Amy and Sugar fans trying to drown them out. But the jeers were heard nonetheless.

Dave could only sigh, at this point used to hearing heckling from Total Drama fans. Amy was doing her best to look unbothered by it all, long over all the criticisms of what a bad sister she was. Heard it a millions times, so their calls fell on deaf ears. As for Sugar...

"Y'all wanna say that to my face?" she challenged as she stomped towards one of her hecklers, picking up a rock to toss. "You prepared to get sugar'd?"

Before she could throw it, Jasmine plucked the stone from her hand and gave her a curt glare. "That's a good way to wind up with a lawsuit. Don't do something you're gonna regret."

All the while, a line of interns were doing their best to hold their formation and prevent any fans from getting in the contestants faces. Chris and Chef were off to the side, talking to a group of reporters with their cameras and microphones. Since the crowd wasn't getting any less energetic, someone had to make a move to appease them. Anne Maria was happy to oblige.

"Well they ain't gonna get any quieter from us just gawking at em." She ran up to a particularly vocal session, soaking in the cheers. "Hey, who wants an autograph? You want me to sign something, anything, I got you!"

"Who wants a picture with The Lightning?" The jock followed close behind, posing for the flashing cameras. "No rush, there's plenty of sha-goodness to go around!"

And so, everyone broke apart to seek out sections of the crowd cheering for them to take part in autographs and photo ops. It did seem to help lower the volume a bit, as now people were focused on trying to reach the front row to score an interaction with their favorite player. While most went off on their own, some stuck to groups such as Jasmine and Sammy. Cody and Trent had by far the biggest and most rabid group to attend to, so they made it a point to stick together.

As it turned out, Scott and Courtney's groups just so happened to be next to each other. And the occasional calls from their fans asking when they'd just get over it and kiss already weren't going unnoticed.

"If we could keep things away from irrelevant topics, that would be nice," Courtney told the group, earning mixed reactions for her efforts. "I appreciate your support, but it's exhausting hearing this over and over."

"Scott! Scott over here," a frumpy looking red headed fan in the front yelled out, waving her arm. "If she doesn't want you, I'm singl-"

The fan suddenly stopped herself, noticing a harsh glare from the CIT. A glare that Scott was all to eager to take notice of.

"Heh, looks like someone's jealous."

A male Courtney fan then squeezed his way to the front of the pack, waving enthusiastically.

"Courtney's the best! I want her to step on me!"

Now it was Scott's turn to do the glaring. "Hey! I'M the only one getting stepped on by her, got it!... wait, what does that even mean?"

Meanwhile with the Drama Bros duo, they were going down a seemingly endless line of fan girls, signing autograph books and constantly posing for selfies. Cody eventually took notice of one person in the line who looked especially shy and intimidated to approach them, and they were obscured by their hoodie with only their blonde pigtails poking out of the hood.

"Hey, want a picture with us?" he called out to the unknown fan, hoping that him doing the approaching wouldn't intimidate them. "There's no need to be shy, we'd love to!"

"Oh, you're too kind," a high pitched voice replied that almost sounded... phony? "I'm just so happy to see two of the Drama Brothers here in the flesh!"

"Well we're always happy to meet our fans," Trent added, leaning forward to try and get a look at the mysterious person.

"Fan?" Suddenly, the person started chuckling maniacally, looking up to reveal that they were wearing a gas mask that obscured their face. "Oh, I'm no fan. Though I wasn't lying when I said I'm happy to see you."

They then poked their hand out of the hoodie sleeve, revealing some sort of button. Once they pressed it, all around the crowd pillars of smoke began to rise. There was a quick chorus of startled screams and yells, but they were swiftly silenced as everyone simultaneously passed out. It was some sort of sleeping gas, a particularly potent concoction as it reached from them all the way down to Chris and the media. Everyone but the person with the gas mask was on the ground asleep. Looking over their handiwork, they bellowed a nefarious laugh. As they took off the hood, the pigtail wig fell off, revealing their actual purple hair underneath.

"Time to evil!"

***** Thirty Minutes Later *****

Chef Hatchet groaned, the first to stir awake. He rubbed his head, trying to get his bearings and remember what the hell just happened.

"Chris... Chris... wake up, darn it!" He kicked his cohort in the side, making him groan awake. "What in tarnation just happened? How'd we end up on the gosh darn ground?"

The host sat up, rubbing the area he had been kicked. "What are you talking abou... wait, what DID just happen?" He darted his head around, noting the various passed out fans, reporters, and contestants. "This wasn't supposed to be part of the challenge."

Something wasn't sitting quite right with Chef. Thinking quickly, he ran up to the closest contestant, Sammy, and shook her awake. "Rise and shine, maggot, we got a situation here!"

One by one the large man woke up all of the contestants, each feeling as groggy and confused as the last. Once it was all said and done, Chris quickly gathered them around while the members of the crowd were beginning to stir.

"Alright, so, does anyone remember what happened, because I'm lost right now." Chris surveyed the group, no body looking certain or raising their hands.

"I think I remember seeing some sorta smoke," Dave eventually offered. "But next thing I knew I was on the ground being shaken by Chef."

Murmuring broke out as everyone tried to recount what little they could about the incident, though it was clear that nobody really knew anything else. But Dawn had been looking around as well and eventually moved forward to tap Chris on the arm.

"Excuse me, but aren't we missing two people?"

The host blinked in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean, Chef woke everyone up."

"Everyone that was present perhaps," she replied. "But we're missing two people."

Dawn's deathly serious tone wasn't lost on the others. They all began looking around at each other and a voice quickly confirmed her observation.

"Oh no... where are Trent and Cody?" Leshawna asked, eyes nearly bugging from her head.

After a quick scan, the others came to the same conclusion. The two Drama Brothers were missing. By now Chris was breaking into a cold sweat, with Chef scooting up beside him and trying to whisper nonchalantly.

"Is... this part of the challenge?" the larger man asked.

"No," Chris hissed. "But just play it cool until we figure out what's happening." With that said, Chris cleared his throat and did his best to compose himself. "Haha, all according to plan, dudes! Now, your first task is... to figure out where the two of them are. First team to do so wins an advantage in the next part of the challenge!"

"Dude, if this is all just part of the challenge it ain't funny." Though despite his critique, DJ began searching around with the others all the same. Everyone searching what little surrounding area there was, while Chris and Chef huddled to try and get a grasp on the situation. Eventually, with the help of some fans that spotted it on the ground, Beth came running up with a camera in hand. A sticky note was attached to it that read "For Chris to watch," with an accompanying smiley face.

"This was laying on the ground near the fans they were with."

She handed off the device and Chris snapped his fingers to signal an intern to rush over a monitor and cable. They connected the camera to one of the inputs and once everyone had gathered around he moved to play the sole video saved to the camera on the TV.

Once the video started, they were met with an odd perspective. The camera was laying on the ground, recording a pair of feet as someone hunched over.

"Is this blasted thing on, already? We don't have much time before they all wake back up."

The voice belonged to the same gas mask wearing person from earlier, who actually leaned down and poked their head slightly into frame as they looked at the camera. "Ah, the red light is on, excellent."

Standing back up, he could be heard calling for someone off screen. Suddenly, a black car pulled up beside him and the back door swung open.

"Let me guess, you want me to put them in on my own?" The masked person was silent for a moment, then groaned. "Evil shouldn't be bossed around like this..."

They walked off screen for a few moments before they could be heard huffing and puffing. His feet came back into frame, and it seemed that he was dragging someone. From the clothes, it had to be Trent. With a strained groan, he hauled Trent into the back of the car, then walked off screen again. He then repeated the process, this time dragging Cody.

"For scrawny pop band pretty boys they are deceptively heavy," the masked person complained before finally also getting Cody inside and slamming the door. Finally, he went to pick up the camera and bring it to eye level. The gas mask was removed to reveal an all too familiar face. A pasty, pudgy boy with dyed purple hair and an unfortunate haircut.

"Greeting, Chris McLean. It is I, the Master of Evil, Max!" He attempted his best maniacal laugh, though it was a bit too much of a strain after his heavy lifting so it made him start coughing for his efforts. "Anywho, you likely thought you had seen the last of me. Well think again! We have taken Trent and Cody hostage. If you want them back, you will deliver the million dollars to this location at Mount Royal within the next three hours."

Max held up a note with a set of coordinates. They were sloppily written, but legible enough. "If you do not, then we will go public with the kidnapping and let their beloved fans pay the ransom! If you think losing the million is bad, just imagine the bad press and lawsuits that will follow when the media gets wind of your incompetence. Why, Total Drama as we know it may even get canceled!"

He pulled off a halfway decent sinister chuckle. "The clock is ticking, Chris. Your reputation, and perhaps even the show's future, is on the line! We'll see you soon."

And with that, the video ended. Silence followed, everyone just sort of digesting what they had saw. Sammy eventually spoke up.

"You seriously brought Max back to help with the challenge? I thought you said he and Scarlett were banned from ever returning."

"She is," Chris answered without missing a beat. "B-but... I gave it some thought, and realized there was no reason to keep punishing Max for what she did. So to make up for snubbing him from the cast, uh, I brought him back to cameo in a challenge! See, I really am generous! And look at how into character he got, he was made for the role."

Dawn looked the host dead in the eyes, nearly staring a hole through him. "He's lying."

"Huh?" said a few contestants.

"Lying comes second nature to him, it's all over his aura," she explained. "And he's lying right now. So please, tell us the truth, Chris. Is this truly part of the challenge or have Cody and Trent been legitimately kidnapped?"

All eyes were on Chris. The host chuckled awkwardly, looking to Chef for any help. The big man just shook his head and gave him a stern look that confirmed that the jig was up. He eventually sighed and motioned for the contestants to crowd around.

"Ok, everyone just stay cool. If you do what I say and keep this all on the down low I can get the network to pass you all a stipend. You all like free money, right?" He paused for a second to let them give him odd looks, but didn't wait for a literal answer. "Anyway, yeah, this is legit. BUT, we can work with this. Edit it later to all seem like it was according to plan. New challenge, you guys are gonna track Max down and save the boys so we don't have to give him the cash."

"You're trying to make a challenge out of this?" Jasmine practically yelled, getting a panicked shush out of the host. "Are you daft? This needs the authorities involved, this isn't a bloody game, Chris!"

"I WILL get them involved," Chris assured everyone. "But we need to keep up appearances in the meanwhile. Plus who knows how long it'll take them to get here. The sooner the guys are found the better, so we can kill two birds with one stone by letting you guys investigate while making it look to the public like it's a challenge!"

There were varying degrees of disgust on the contestant's faces, mixed in with a bit of anger and concern just for good measure. Leshawna in particular was looking furious, pointing a threatening finger Chris' way. "You just better hope the two of them are alright once we find em. Them getting snatched is on YOU, so there's gonna be hell to pay if they're hurt."

***** Confessional: Leshawna *****

"Just when I think this man's hit rock bottom, he whips out a shovel and shows off a whole new low." She shook her head in disbelief. "The absolute nerve of this fool, using my homeboys well being for a damn challenge. If anything happens to them, I'm taking care of Chris myself... I just hope they're ok."

***** Undisclosed Location *****

A low groan escaped Trent as he finally began to regain consciousness. What the hell just happened? Last he remembered, him and Cody were just meeting with fans, nothing out of the ordinary. And then... what happened next?

"Hey, Trent. You're finally awake."

Hearing his band mate's voice, the guitarist saw him sitting nearby on a bed, his hands handcuffed behind his back.

"You were trying to meet with the fans, right? Walked right into that sleeping gas ambush, same as us and that cockroach over there."

Trent stared at his friend for a silent moment before shaking his head. "What?"

"Sorry, I tend to reference stuff to try and ease the tension," Cody answered, chuckling awkwardly as he noted Trent also being in handcuffs. "Anyway... any idea where the heck we are?"

The two looked around, trying to take note of everything around them. They appeared to be in a sort of jail cell, as iron bars lined from wall to wall, preventing them from escaping. There was a locked door in the center of the iron bar wall, though thanks to there being no windows the only light source they had was a single light bulb dimly dangling from the ceiling. Inside their cell was a bed that Cody was currently on, while Trent was leaning against the wall opposite of the bars.

"This has gotta be part of the challenge, right? Chris knocked us out and now we gotta do a prison escape themed sorta thing?" Trent didn't sound fully confident in his own explanation, but he had to try and keep calm."The whole thing about the Canadian themed challenges was just to make us lower our guard."

"I guess that makes sense," Cody admitted, though he was still especially unnerved by the handcuffs. "But he's never hired so many extras like those fans to be part of the challenge. That short girl with the gas mask was especially weird..."

"Weird? Weird isn't a proper enough word to describe such evil!"

The response came from an unknown third voice, startling both boys. They peered into the darkness until the figure finally stepped into the light.

"Personally, I would go with sinister! Or perhaps diabolical! Frightful, devilish, heinous... there's quite a few options, really."

After a brief confused pause, Cody finally broke the silence. "You're that guy from last season, right? Are you part of the challenge?"

"But I thought Chris said that him and that crazy librarian chick that tried to kill everyone were banned from returning," Trent pointed out, only growing more and more confused.

"Hmph, you're one to talk about looking crazy Mr. Number Obsession. And no, I am not just part of some challenge. I'll have you know that you've been kidnapped! Brought here to my top secret lair of evil!" Max held out his arms for added effect, though nothing changed. He looked off to the side and seemingly remembered something. He quickly waddled off, found the light switch, and flicked it on before running back to his arms held out position. Cody and Trent were momentarily blinded by the room's lights flickering on. When their vision returned they were met with a grisly sight...

Various means of torture lining the walls and floor. A torture rack, stocks, what looked like an iron maiden, and various sharp weapons on the walls. Axes, swords, you name it. Even with Max's goofy appearance, the visual of the various deadly devices were enough to make the duo white as bed sheets.

"Wh-what are you gonna do, torture us?" Cody stammered, scooting back defensively.

"Hm? Oh! Heavens no, that would be far too messy." Max shuddered at the thought alone. "I detest the sight of blood, it makes my delicate tummy feel queasy. This all just looks quite neat, doesn't it? Befitting of the hidden lair for the world's greatest evil mastermind!"

Trent just gave his friend a blank look, not really sure how to feel about any of this anymore. "So... why did you kidnap us again?"

"For the ransom money, of course." The wannabe supervillain rolled his eyes. "I left McLean with an ultimatum. Either he gives over the million dollars, OR we go to the media about your kidnapping to reveal the show's negligence to the world. And what better target to get the news talking than two world famous pop stars?"

"Actually, I'd like to think our sound has matured from just being pop, we've incorporated a lot of electronica and-"

Cody was elbowed in the side before he could continue.

"So fret not, whether it be Chris or your adoring fans that pays the ransom you'll be free to go soon enough," Max continued. "But it won't be a moment sooner. No one else dares know where my hidden lair is!"

"Max, dearie, do you and your friends want any Hot Pockets?" a older lady's voice suddenly yelled from the top of the stairs leading to the makeshift jail cell. "I'm about to put some in the oven."

Max groaned and stomped his feet. "No, mother, we're in the middle of... actually wait, yes I'd like some." He glanced over at his two prisoners. "Do you guys want any Hot Pockets?"

Cody and Trent just stared at him. Eventually he shrugged, figuring he could eat their's if they didn't eat them. "Make some for all three of us. And don't forget the ranch!"

While he moved to go help his mom with the gourmet cuisine, Trent moved towards his band-mate to whisper. "Are we... just in his mom's basement?"

"If that's the case, the others are bound to find us soon enough, right?"

***** In the Streets of Montreal *****

The other fifteen contestants were currently trying to figure out where to even start with their rescue mission. All they had to go off of right now was that Max was the perpetrator, and that Cody and Trent were hauled off in a black car. Other than that, nada.

"So does anyone have some ideas, because I got nothin," Anne Maria said, the crew for now just kinda inspecting the general area the car had driven off from. There were skid marks, but that did them little good.

"We could always send one of our fast guys running after the car and have em break out a window to get them boys free," Sugar suggested. While most people immediately disregarded her, Lightning gasped.

"Sha-yeah, the Lightning could totally catch that car no problem!"

"If we knew WHERE the car was you could," Dave pointed out. "But we don't. We have zero leads right now."

While the others were brainstorming for clues, something hit DJ. Literally, it was bird poop that landed on his shoulder. "Ah come on, now that's just rude... wait a minute."

He glanced up at a group on pigeons atop a light pole near the airport. Were they there the whole time? If they were...

"Dawn, you think you might be able to talk to the pigeons? If they were here when the kidnapping went down they might have seen which way the car went."

The mystic was a bit surprised at being put on the spot at first but quickly smiled at the suggestion. "It's certainly worth a shot. Though they get an unfairly bad reputation from humans, pigeons are quite observant creatures. I can see what they may know."

Both animal lovers cautiously approached the light pole to get the birds attention while the others could only watch and wait.

***** Confessional: DJ *****

"Dawn's pretty cool... kinda weird, but in a good way, ya know? I've never met anyone that can talk to animals as good as her. Probably because I've never met anyone that can talk to animals period. Izzy used to say she can talk to camels, but it's kinda hard to believe anything that chick says. I wonder if Dawn could teach me how to do it, I always wanted to know what bunnies think!"

***** Confessional: Sugar *****

The pageant queen stared out the window with a glare. "I don't know what it is about that Dawn girl, but there's something about her I ain't liking. She's skinny as a twig, walks around acting all quiet and sweet-like, trying to carry herself like she walked out of a gosh darn fairy tale. And she does that annoying singing every other episode!" Sugar was ignoring the part where literally everyone had to sing every other episode. "If she's still around when the merge comes, she's gotta be the first to go!"

***** In the Streets of Montreal *****

Turns out, one of the pigeon's decided to follow Max's car for a while after shit went down! The pigeon, who Dawn claimed was named Slapjack, had informed her that after recording his video Max hopped into the car with the two boys and was now flying them the direction they went.

"I can't believe we're following directions from a stupid bird of all things," Amy grumbled, but following along with the others all the same.

"It's unorthodox, but there's no need to doubt Dawn's abilities," Brick assured her. "They're the real deal! And at least it's progress, every bit of help we can get we should take it."

Beth grimaced as she ran along, something on her mind that was bother her. "Um, so since we're not doing anything else but running after the pigeon for now, there's something that's kinda been bugging me. Who was the person Max was talking to on the video? We know he wasn't alone because he wasn't the one driving the car."

Everyone was silent, pondering who it could have been. Sure, it could have been someone they didn't know, but why would someone want to get roped up in a kidnapping scheme? It had to be someone willing to do something illegal, and there WAS someone who fit that bill with an association to Max.

"Could it be Scarlett?" Sammy finally said. "I mean, I know Max likes to think that he's some evil genius but he doesn't really strike me as someone who can come up with a plan like this all on his own, much less follow through on it. But her..."

"She's trouble," Jasmine added with a nod. "Max is just a little goober, but if Scarlett is involved in this then those two could actually be in some deep trouble. This wouldn't be the first time she used contestants to demand the million bucks as ransom. Me, Sugar, Shawn, and Sky damn near died because of her."

"But didn't she hate Max's guts?" Dave pointed out. "Like, even more than anyone else. If she was behind it she surely wouldn't want him involved, right? So it's gotta be someone else. One of Max's friends or something."

Amy snickered. "Who would want to be friends with that weirdo?"

"Well I don't care who the heck it is. Max, Scarlett, whoever else." Leshawna cracked her knuckles with a fire in her eyes. "Once I get my hands on em for messing with Trent and Cody they're gonna WISH they never crossed us."

Not long after that warning they suddenly found themselves coming to a stop near a busy park by the name of Angrignon. The pigeon took a seat on a nearby tree and cooed.

"Hey, what's the hold up?" Anne Maria asked. "Homebird get tired of flapping its wings or something?"

"Unfortunately it would seem this was as far as Slapjack followed the car," Dawn said apologetically. "He got distracted by all the activity going on in the park and then eventually circled back to the airport. The last he saw before he stopped following the car was it going north."

Slapjack cooed again in confirmation. His job done, it flew back towards the airport to rejoin its bird friends and maybe go poop on some cars.

"So we're back to square one then. Great." Scott kicked at the tree in frustration, prompting a walnut to fall from it and bonk him in the head. More mildly annoyed than anything, he rubbed at the sore spot it left on his head. "Now what? It ain't like the next hint is just gonna come right up to us."

Suddenly, by sheer coincidence, the group heard some squealing as two fan girls excitedly ran up to them.

"O-M-Gosh! You guys are from Total Drama," one of them said to state the obvious, a shorter girl with blonde hair that had blue streaks.

"Are you guys doing like a challenge or something? We heard about you showing up at the airport but we only got off work a few minutes ago and couldn't make it," the other added, a taller girl with short black hair.

The crew just sort of exchanged looks, not sure how to respond. While most of them wanted to divulge the truth, Chris would possibly take to punishing them if they spilled the beans on the kidnapping. Plus they were on the clock and couldn't really afford to stand around talking to fans.

"Er, yeah, you could say that," Brick finally answers, thinking over the best way to word it. "It's a sort of... riddle based challenge! So we're just trying to figure out what we do next."

"Mhm, really complicated stuff," Courtney added. "So we can't really stop to chat, I'm sure you girls understand."

"Ohmygosh, of course," the shorter one replied. "Sorry, we didn't mean to bother you guys, it's just hard not to fan girl ya know?"

Her friend nodded along. "Totally, we don't see many of you making appearances around here usually. Well except Max since he lives in the city, but still."

Everyone paused. They took a second to let that sink in. Finally, Beardo made a record scratch sound and spoke. "Max lives here in Montreal?"

"Yeah!" the blonde replied. "Didn't you guys know that? Sierra lists the home town for everyone on the blogs she dedicates to them."

"That's totally not creepy at all," Amy grumbled. "If she knows that then she probably knows our actual addresses too."

"Knowing her I wouldn't be surprise-" DJ stopped and shared a look with his teammates. Surely it wouldn't be that easy, would it?

"Could you girls do us a favor?" Leshawna asked. "Sierra probably has a contact email on her blogs, right? Could you send her one saying we need Max's address for a challenge? Chris brought him in for a cameo if you can believe it."

"You could attach a picture of us standing here to show that it's really us asking," Beth suggested. "Oh, and tell her that Cody's in danger because of the challenge, that'll probably make her reply super quick!"

Both girls looked at each other and snickered before the taller one snapped the photo of everyone. "Sure, sounds like fun!"

"She thinks she's actually important to the plot," her friend whispered, fighting the urge to laugh. "Adorable."

Beth's face fell as the two worked on sending Sierra the email.

***** Confessional: Beth *****

"Not important to the plot? Did those two forget that I won us our first challenge back in Nashville?" She paused, the silence starting to get to her. "Di-did they really forget? I thought it was a big deal, surely people don't think I'm an afterthought on the team, right?"

***** Max's Basement *****

A partly unnerved and partly bored Trent and Cody sat around wondering what they could do, a half touched plate of Hot Pockets next to them.

"I gotta say, we've been through a lot of weird stuff on this show but this is definitely extra strange," Cody said, sighing. "I'm still not entirely convinced this isn't part of a challenge."

Trent shrugged. "I'm assuming it's legit. Chris doesn't miss a chance to gloat and explain the rules of a challenge, we would have heard from him by now. Plus he seems to genuinely dislike this guy and he's not really the type to actively hand out TV spots to someone he hates."

"Well I could always tranquilize the two of you if it'll make you stop beating this dead horse of a talking point," Max whined as he returned to check in on his prisoners, snacking on a few Hot Pockets of his own. "Then again, I may have to do that soon anyway. The time to meet McLean for the exchange is fast approaching."

"Chris wouldn't even give up the money when your girlfriend threatened to blow everyone up, what makes you think he's actually going to pay up to save us?" Cody saw Trent grow even more concerned due to his comment and shrugged. "I mean I wanna be optimistic, but this is CHRIS we're talking about here. He'd probably give up his own family if it meant saving his money instead."

Max chuckled darkly. "It's simple, because this time his very reputation and the future of the show is on the line. No show means no income for Chris. It's the smart thing for him to do in the long run."

"Ok, but what if you get caught before you can even make off with the money?" Trent pointed out. "I'm sure the authorities are already on it, and who knows what our friends could be up to. I wouldn't be surprised if they're knocking down your mom's door any minute now."

The wannabe evil mastermind scoffed and waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, pshaw. Your misplaced faith in your friends is as boring as watching you on the show."

Genuinely not expecting that dig, a look of hurt came over the guitarist. "I am not boring! I've done plenty of exciting stuff on the show. Like... uh." He looked over at Cody. He figured bringing up anything related to Gwen would be an awkward topic. That meant he could bring up... wait, what all had he done on the show not related to Gwen? "Cody, I'm not boring, am I?"

"No way! We've been bros for years, I know better than anyone how cool you are." He almost felt the need to point out how not-boring the whole 9 breakdown was, but it probably wasn't the best thing to bring up. "Remember what Justin said, dude, just ignore the haters. And you're probably right, the others will be here to rescue us any minute now!"

Suddenly the ringing of the doorbell echoed throughout the basement. All three boys went wide eyed, though Max had to quickly compose himself as hope began to grow for the captives. "It's merely a coincidence, fools. I'll have you know mommy and I were in the mood for pizza so she ordered delivery. But don't worry, I asked her to order a pizza for the two of you... and I told her to order Hawaiian!"

He cackled evilly as he ascended the stairs to assist with the pizzas. Trent and Cody could almost cry after hearing the blasphemous insult of a pizza they were about to be fed. Truly, hope was fading more and more as the minutes passed.

"Mother, do not tip them any more than 5 percent, he's over 5 minutes la-"

Max stopped in his tracks as he turned the corner. There was his mom at the front door, and on the other side of it were 15 certain competitors with varying degrees of anger and cockiness.

"Oh Maxie, some more of your Total Drama friends are here to visit," his mother said.

"Sup?" Leshawna added, cracking her knuckles.

"Um... hello, everyone," he greeted awkwardly, even adding a little wave. "Now if you don't mind, I'm just gonna..."

He didn't bother to finish the sentence, instead bolting for the basement as fast as his tiny legs could carry him.

"Get em," Sugar yelled, everyone running after the supervillain. Max had only just managed to shut and lock the door mere moments before the faster competitors reached him. He damn near fell down the stairs as he stopped to catch his breath while the door was banged over and over.

"That's one aggressive pizza guy," Trent quipped. They could make out the yells from various fellow contestants, with Leshawna being the loudest. "Guess your plan hasn't worked out so well, has it."

Max gave him a glare, still heaving a bit from the panic. "Evil always has a backup plan. And thankfully your friends took much too long to get here."

Suddenly he whipped out a walkie talkie. "Be outside ASAP, we have a very urgent situation. Those fools tracked down my house."

Once that was done, Max removed a tarp that revealed a dolly underneath. Wide enough to conveniently fit two skinny dudes on.

"I mean, you got yourself caught," Cody pointed out. "What's the next step of your master plan?"

Rather than answer, Max just straight up pulled out a gun and shot Cody with it! I mean, it was a tranquilizer gun so all it did was put him to sleep, but the surprise was still enough to make Trent yelp and jump backwards. The supervillain then tranquilized the guitarist as well, finally unlocking the cell door to drag them on to the dolly.

"It's a good thing I installed the top secret emergency exit," he said proudly, pulling out a certain button. "Evil always finds a way!"

Upon pressing the button, a curtain fell off a part of the wall to reveal... a garage door opening. Making sure Trent and Cody were secured, he quickly ran outside with the boys and closed the door behind him. Just as it was being lowered, the other door at the top of the stairs was finally opened and the others scrambled into the basement just in time to see Max fleeing. Jasmine dived to try and stop the garage door from closing but it shut just before she could reach it.

"Damn it, I told y'all we shoulda just busted it down instead of getting the key from his mom!" Leshawna groaned as turned to go back up the stairs. "Come on, he's just outside, let's get him!"

Knowing fully well that he had little time to spare, Max scanned the horizon for the black car from earlier but it was nowhere in sight. "Hurry up, hurry up! What's taking so long?"

And then suddenly a new voice piped up. "Uh... did somebody order some pizzas?"

He looked over to see a scruffy looking pizza guy in his 20s, thoroughly confused at what looked to be a gremlin karting off two corpses on a dolly. But Max didn't have time to question it, he promptly whipped out his tranq gun and sent the pizza man to the ground.

"Evil must be able to improvise!" He rushed over to the man's delivery car, dragging him out of the way so he could stuff Cody and Trent into the back seat. He then looted the keys from the guy's pockets and rushed off in the pizza car just as the others ran outside to try and meet him.

"Aw come on, really?" Beardo provided the sound of a censor bleep, kicking at the ground. "How the heck are we gonna catch up to him now?"

"Oh, oh, oh, Lightning's got this one!" From out of nowhere the turbo jock whipped out a set of car keys, jingling them in the air. "He sha-swiped the keys to little dudes mama's van."

He pointed a thumb over his shoulder, pointing to a large purple van parked in the driveway.

"Yo-you took her keys?" Brick asked. "Why?"

"Well when we were running up to this place, Lightning couldn't help but notice the car parked there," he explained. "He likes him some sha-purple whips, ya know? But when he saw that it was a van he thought to himself, damn, why does old girl need something with that much junk in the trunk? Thing can probably fit like 15 people. Then it hit Lightning, ya know he ain't great at math, but he remembered that there's 15 of us! So then-"

"Who cares? They're getting away!" Courtney swiped the keys from his hand and ran for the driver's seat. "Everyone get in!"

The situation was thoroughly confusing, but nobody really had any time to question her. With Leshawna taking up the passenger seat and everyone else piling into the back of the van, they sped off in hot pursuit of Max's pizza mobile. Meanwhile, Max's mom had heard the commotion and walked outside to see her own van speeding away while some random guy laid passed out in her front yard.

"Oh that mischievous son of mine, always getting into wacky hi-jinks." She shook her head and what sounded like canned audience laughter echoed in the distance.

Now the chase was on. Max had the head start, but he had to stop for a bit at a red light to take the time to adjust his seat. Dude had short legs. Just as the light turned green, he noticed his mother's van quickly approaching in the rear view window.

"They dare to pursue evil even still?" he said. "Fine then! Try and keep up."

Putting the pedal to the medal, Max rocketed past the light, nearly hitting an SUV in the process. Courtney wasn't about to stop and kept her eyes glued to their target while swerving around traffic. The pizza car would sometimes swerve left or right at the last minute towards different roads, but she did her best to keep on it. Multiple cars nearly got swiped in the process, but miraculously no one was hurt. Yet.

"How's this dude able to swerve all over the place like this?" DJ asked as he and the others slid around in the back of the van. "We're gonna lose em if this keeps up."

"Well he does live here, he's gotta know these streets a lot better than we do," Beth pointed out, rubbing her head as she slid against the wall. "Is there a map in the glove box or something that could help us?"

Leshawna tried it out, and as luck would have it was able to produce a map of the Montreal roads. "He's probably heading to Mount Royal, right? That's where he's gonna meet Chris for the exchange."

Courtney nodded. "Yeah, probably... actually, now that I think about it, that gives me an idea."

After waiting a few minutes for Max to take another erratic turn, as soon as he did Courtney continued to drive in the direction she had been going, not following the gremlin boy.

"Ha! It would seem my evil outsmarted those fools. As if there was ever any doubt."

The coast seemingly clear, Max continued on normally towards his destination. The pre-established coordinates at Mount Royal, near a large transmission tower situated in the park. As he pulled up on the area, sure enough there was Chris and Chef waiting for him with a briefcase under the host's arm.

"Chris McLean," the supervillain greeted as he exited the car, grinning wickedly. "It's been a long time since we last met."

"Let's just get this over with, dude," the host grumbled, holding up the briefcase. "I brought the stupid money. Where's my contestants at?"

Man went to open the back door before pausing and raising a suspicious eyebrow at Chris. "How do I know that briefcase really has the money and isn't a decoy, hm? Evil demands proof!"

Chris groaned and rolled his eyes. He popped open the briefcase, revealing fat stacks of hundred dollar bills within. "See? It's the real deal, I didn't fill it with lettuce or something. Now where's my guys at?"

Smirking confidently, Max opened the door, allowing the still sleeping bodies of the duo to fall out. Cody landing on top of Trent may have seemed like an eyebrow raise worthy position, but at least no ear kissing was involved this time.

"They're safe and sound," the supervillain confirmed, Cody's snoring proving his point. "Now then, toss over the briefcase and I'll be on my way."

Chris and Chef exchanged a look, the larger man nodding. Chris moved like he was about to throw the heavy briefcase but then suddenly stopped and smirked.

"Hmm... actually, nah, I don't think I'll be doing that. No use paying up to someone who's about to spend a lot of time behind bars."

Suddenly, various Canadian offers popped out of the woodwork, some emerging from bushes and others dropping from trees. They had their guns, taser guns that is, fixed on the gremlin boy and were ready to fire.

"An ambush? Ha! You think someone with an evil genius mind such as myself didn't anticipate this as a possibility?" Max quickly hid behind the car door and dragged the two boys back into the backseat. "I'll merely make my escape and go public with the kidnapping as promised! Well done, Chris, prepare to have your reputation permanently tarnished beyond repair!"

Max crawled into the driver seat, preparing to take off as the officers tried to close in on him. But just as he was about to drive away he heard a loud screeching of tires behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and gulped as he saw the 15 other contestants piling out of his mom's van, having just parked directly behind him and preventing his escape.

"We took the scenic route to make you think you lost us," Jasmine boasted.

"Remind us to thank your mom for keeping a map in the glove box, dork," Scott added with a sneer.

With the van blocking him from behind and the officers now surrounding his front and sides, Max was fully boxed in and with nowhere to run. Chris strutted up to the car confidently, reveling in the boy's growing panic.

"You lose, Max. Give it up, already."

Max looked around, weighing his options. But he truly didn't have any, between Chris and Chef, the 15 competitors, and all the officers, there was no way to get out of this. Gulping and shivering, he held up his hands. "Ok, I surrender! It was never TRULY a serious kidnapping, honest! You have to admit, we at least gave you good material for an episode, didn't we?"

Chef raised an eyebrow. "We? What do you mean, we?"

On cue, familiar pillars of smoke suddenly erupted around the crowd of people. Some tried to hold their breath or get some distance away from the smog to avoid getting knocked out, but it was futile. Much like earlier, everyone around the car were put to sleep one after another. Only Max was still awake once it was all done, thanks to being inside the car with the windows up.

"Oh thank, heavens." He wiped some sweat from his brow. "Evil like mine does NOT need to be subjected to prison."

"Give it a rest already, Max."

The voice came from a slender figure emerging from the shadows, gas mask on and observing their surroundings. They made it a point to confirm that each and every person was indeed asleep and currently poised no threat. Once that was done they approached the car, their long red hair the most visible detail.

"I would say I'm surprised that you completely botched this plan, but I'm not. You truly are inept when left to your own devices."

Max pouted. "That's no way to talk to a supreme overlord of evil, minion. Honestly, I-"

He was cut off as the door was flung open and the person yanked him out by his collar, bringing him face to face. Or rather face to gas mask.

"Do you need another reminder of why you're never to call me that, you insipid moron? You're lucky I allow you to even speak my name."

"Y-yes, Scarlett! My apologies!"

Indeed, the figure tore off her mask to unsurprisingly reveal the true evil genius of Pahkitew Island underneath. She narrowed her eyes but ultimately scoffed and dropped Max to the ground.

"Quite honestly it's a miracle you even made it to the attempted trade off portion of the plan. I half expected you to get apprehended while keeping them hostage at your mother's house. I TOLD you that a more obscure hiding place was necessary, but NO why would you ever listen to reason?"

As he dusted himself off, Max gave her an annoyed glare. "They almost DID corner me there, and it was no thanks to you! Where were you when I called for you on the walkie?"

"Finishing preparations," she answered simply, motioning for him to follow her to the black car. "Now hurry up, they won't be asleep for long so we should get moving while we can."

Max groaned. "And I suppose I'll have to move those two boy band fools on my own again?"

"No, leave them. That plan was always temporary. It would have been NICE for it to work, but it hinged on you actually being competent so I anticipated its failure."

Now he was confused. "But the whole point was to take the million dollars from Chris! Just how do you intend to do that if we're abandoning the ransom plan?"

"While you were busy failing spectacularly, I took the opportunity to do some work of my own while Chris and the contestants were occupied," Scarlett answered. "Namely, I was able to sneak aboard the jet and gather intel. What locations they'll be visiting, what flight paths they'll be taking, things of that nature."

To prove her point she whipped out a small flash drive. "I'm planning something much more serious. And when the time is right, THEN the plan will spring into action and the money will be mine."

"Ours," Max corrected. "You need me to help, you know."

"Very debatable," she grumbled, nearly pushing him into the car as he was taking so long. "You'll be lucky if I give you ten percent. Regardless, the authorities will be looking for us after this, but they'll be searching less aggressively so long as we don't still have the hostages. They can have Cody and Trent back, they're irrelevant to what I have planned for the future."

"They'll be looking for both of us?" Max asked curiously. "They don't even know that you're involved as of right now, do they?"

"Oh, they will." Scarlett smirked deviously, starting to drive off from the scene. "I left Chris a little message for him to throw into his episode. It makes it more fun that way, letting him know that this isn't over."

***** Confessional: Scarlett *****

"If there's one thing that idiot is good for, I suppose it's being a distraction," she said, looking out the window to ensure no one was coming near the jet while she was snooping. "Now then, McLean. Long time no see. If you were under the impression that the insufferable purple haired gnome was the only thing you had to worry about, let this be your rude awakening. You and I have unfinished business. I'm still owed that million dollars, and rest assured that when this hostage situation likely fails due to Max's incompetence, it won't be the last you've seen of us. So keep your guard up, we'll be meeting again sooner than you think. Those that get eliminated before then? They'll be the only truly lucky ones."

Her piece said, she finished with a maniacal cackling that signed off the confessional.

***** On the Jumbo Jet *****

Sometime after everyone had woken up and realized that Max was long gone, everyone was returned back to the Jet to figure out what the hell they would do next. Chris was on the phone with the mayor of the city, supposedly in the middle of an argument on them not using the Olympic stadium for their challenge.

"Yeah, well who's fault is it that we didn't have better security at the airport to ensure none of our contestants got kidnapped?" the host barked into the phone. "No it's not my fault, you guys should have been prepared if you wanted a big media appearance out of them!"

As the phone debate raged on, Chef utilized some bolt cutters to undo Trent and Cody's handcuffs. Everyone looked mostly relieved to have them safe and sound, but there was clearly an air of unease due to the confusion on how the situation ended with them all getting knocked out again and Max disappearing afterwards.

"And y'all don't have any idea where he might have scurried off to?" Leshawna asked. "Because homeboy is in for a world of hurt if we can track him down."

"As much as I'd like to see you wallop him, we got nothing," Cody admitted.

"I guess we just have to move on from it and be glad we didn't actually get hurt," Trent added with a shrug.

A few more heated exchanges were passed back and forth between Chris and the mayor until they seemed to reach a conclusion. "Uh huh. Yeah. Sure, you got a deal. Now let's keep this on the down low and pretend this never happened."

Chris pocketed the phone, took a second to compose himself, then turned to greet the contestants with his trademark grin acting as nothing had happened. "Alright, so, heck of a day am I right guys? I don't know about all of you, but I'm suuuuuuper tired. Guess that'll do it for our Montreal pit stop."

"Don't just act like everything is normal," Trent said, pointing at his wrists that still had red markings from the handcuffs. "What are you gonna do about all this?"

"What we're gonna do is pretend that none of this happened," Chris replied. "I cut a deal with the mayor, since we both seem to be pointing fingers at each other. She'll wave the fee from us reserving the Olympic Park, I'll convince the network to start the next Ridonculous Race season from there instead of Toronto, and we'll mutually agree not to go public with this whole attempted kidnapping nastiness."

Seeing that a chorus of objections were about to ring out, he was quick to hold up his hands. "AND as previously promised, you all will get a stipend in exchange for not bringing up this whole mess. We're just gonna act like this stop didn't happen and that we went from Colombia straight to the next place."

"You really are serious about bribing us into being quiet, huh?" Beardo shook his head in disbelief. "Unbelievable..."

Chris shrugged innocently. "If it were to go public that could risk the show getting put on pause or even canceled. That means no million big ones, and by extension means you all would have done this season for nothing."

The room went silent. No one really wanted to just brush the day under the rug, but making the whole season amount to nothing? Even Cody and Trent looked to be in begrudging agreement that it was the better course of action.

"This better not happen again," Cody warned.

"So how's elimination gonna be handled?" Anne Maria asked. "Ya know, since we didn't actually have a challenge or nothin."

"You guys can treat this as a non-elimination stop, I guess," Chris explained. "For the sake of continuity we can't kick anyone off. Furthermore, we'll have to keep Team Old School in first class since they were the last winners. Consider that my way of making it up to you two dudes."

Cody and Trent just gave him unimpressed glares.

"That should pretty much cover things, I guess." The host looked to his larger companion. "Chef, go make em some not-sucky dinner, will ya? Might help lift the mood."

Chef groaned but wouldn't object. As he left to go cook and Chris left to do Chris things, that left the 17 contestants to stand around awkwardly and wonder what to do next. None of them really had an answer, so with some final well wishes to the Drama Bros duo over their safety, everyone dispersed as they waited for dinner.

***** Confessional: Cody *****

"Welp, I think it goes without saying that this was probably the weirdest day I've ever experienced on this show. And I had to spend a whole season with Sierra!" He paused, chuckling awkwardly. "Though apparently she helped everyone out today somehow? I don't really get how since she isn't part of the cast this time, but... thanks anyway!"

***** On the Jumbo Jet *****

Meanwhile in the cockpit, Chris and Chef were watching back Scarlett's confessional on a dashboard monitor. They exchanged a worried look, unsure what to make of it.

"Man, you sure you don't wanna put the season on pause or something?" the larger man asked. "She damn near blew us all up last time, chick means business."

"It's... probably fine. Just have the interns scan the jet from top to bottom and make sure she isn't trying to hide out like a Zeke." Trying to keep his upbeat demeanor, he laughed it off. "I mean come on, we're flying all over the world! She can't try and keep up with us when we're in a different continent almost every day."

Chef didn't look so convinced, but he knew there wasn't much he could do to change Chris' mind. He was almost ready to go return to cooking when Chris suddenly broke out into his outro monologue.

"How will Trent and Cody fair after their brush with danger? Can Team Old School continue to keep their hold on first class?"

"Why the hell are you doing an outro if we're supposed to act like this wasn't a real stop?" Chef asked. Chris merely replied with rolling up a newspaper and whacking him in the head.

"It helps me feel better, shush." Chris cleared his throat and continued. "Where will we head next to take our mind off the weirdness of today? Will someone wind up in even bigger danger? And who will we kick off to make up for lost time? You'll just have to tune in and find out, next time here on TOTAL... DRAMA... BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS!"

**Voting Confessionals:**

N/A

**Bonus Clip:**

A briefcase was flipped open, revealing a cackling Max as he peered inside.

"Mwahaha! Evil has succeeded! This is what happens when you aren't very observant, Scarlett."

"What are you blabbering about?" she asked from the driver seat, not paying attention to her cohort.

"Behold! I have procured the million dollar briefcase!" He stuck the briefcase of cash in her face. "Chris brought it with him to the ambush, the fool, and I made sure to grab it before we drove off. You may have overlooked such an important detail, but evil never forgets!"

Scarlett sighed and just slapped Max in the head. "It's not real money, you imbecile. Look at it again."

Doing as he was told, Max pulled out one of the wads of 100 dollar bills... at least they appeared to be 100s. But upon closer inspection the face on the bills was actually that of Chris, with a picture of Chef on the back. They were fakes.

"Oh... well that's disappointing."

"Chris is a simpleton, but he's not stupid enough to bring the actual million dollars with him when he doesn't intend on giving it away," Scarlett explained. "Now get rid of it, they may have put a tracking device in the briefcase."

Max pouted as he rolled down the window and chucked the briefcase out. "Well I thought it was a smart idea..."

As the briefcase went flying, Slapjack the pigeon had just so happened to be following their car once again. Had being the keyword as the briefcase struck the bird out of the sky and it landed in some grass doing the Family Guy pose. With there now nobody on their tail, Scarlett and Max continued to disappear into the night...


End file.
